


Neo Shadow of Israphel

by Phoenix_Clark



Series: Yogscast complete [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), The Yogscast
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Adventure, Archery, Best Friends, British, British English, Carnival, Cults, Desert Island, Dwarves, England (Country), English, Exploration, Fantasy, Fictional Religion & Theology, Flashbacks, Friendship, Heist, Knights - Freeform, Lore - Freeform, Magic, Minecraft, Monsters, Multi, Music, Outer Space, Potions, Religion, Retelling, Roleplay, SMP, Science Fiction, Skeletons, Spiders, Steampunk, Supernatural Elements, Undead, Video Game Mechanics, Wizards, YouTube, Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:15:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 24,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28092996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenix_Clark/pseuds/Phoenix_Clark
Summary: My retelling of the Shadow of Israphel series by the Yogscast!This is my interpretation of the story they told across their series' with some parts added or filled out to make a more coherent story!This also works as a kind of writing practice for me so I don't keep falling behind on my creative writing, so of course any feedback, if anyone does read this, is appreciated greatly.All credit goes to the Yogscast for the creation of all plot and characters shown in my writing, this is merely a chance to remind myself and others of the great tale they told through a new lens and maybe even introduce it to new people. And as I said, a chance for me to practice my writing skills, I hope you enjoy :)And of course things are changed or added based on my headcanons and theories and general ways to explain things they didn't!The plot sees the beautiful friendship of a spaceman and a dwarf as they learn to survive on this strange planet together. It also sees them travel to the outer reaches of it after encountering mysterious structures and the strange Israphel, who lurks around their house. Cities and towns, wizards and pirates, heroes and villains. This journey truly is one for the ages.
Series: Yogscast complete [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2058138
Comments: 5
Kudos: 8





	1. How to survive the first night

**Author's Note:**

> Adapted from the series: Minecraft - Episodes 1-3 on the channel Yogscast Lewis and Simon.

Location: ???, the Earth dimension  
Planet: Minecraftia  
Date: 3rd December 2010  
Cast: The heroes

The dwarf.  
The spaceman.  
Here they meet, on this brave new world, and set in motion a tale of fantasy beyond the dreams of any man, woman, dwarf or otherwise. A story that is 100% factual, you know. A story that has been seen through the eyes of many before. Now, however, I will relay this epic to you once again. Or, perhaps, for the first time, should we be so lucky. So sit closely, with eyes and ears open, and take in the wonderful chronicles of the Yogverse that are about to unfold before you.

“Hooray! Minecraftia!” The spaceman exclaimed. Black boots made first contact with the snowy sand below and gave Xephos a sense of achievement he had never known. It was warm. Even through thin snow and thick boots the spaceman could feel it: the warmth of this world’s sand.  
Soon, fortunately for him, another kind of first contact was to be made. Life. Sat on the edge of a frozen beach -one of pure blue ice that melded wickedly with the sand and the sea- was a short man. His beard was so bright and red that it could be seen from where he stood, a few metres or so away.  
“It’s terribly snowy...what on Earth happened here.” The man’s voice was deep and carried far.  
“It’s beautiful,” expressed Xephos in his awe of the new world he’d found. He approached the man, who up close was clearly a dwarf of some grand city, and watched as he stood on short legs to meet eyes with the spaceman. It wasn’t the height or the fiery facial hair that gave his race away, but the helmet. One you could only find here, on Minecraftia. A dwarve’s helmet, crafted so finely that nothing in the galaxy compared. No silk nor steel was as elegant or as strong. It was what had pulled Xephos here away from his home! The ingenuity of the Dwarvern people… maybe here he could find a new place called home.  
But this was no dwarf of legend. He sat alone. He was unproductive and, well, sad. But he was still, undeniably, a dwarf nonetheless. Who better to help a lone spaceman build a home on the famous Minecraftia than the Dwarves who called this place theirs?  
Locking eyes, they came to a silent agreement. No questions would be asked of who you are or where do you come from. Just them. And them alone.  
The dwarf and the spaceman begin their adventure in mutual reprimand of wherever they came from.

It was midday by the time their initial bonding was over. Some words were exchanged across the hours of staring at the world around them but all were questions from the spaceman and answers from the dwarf. The only personal one exchanged was ‘what is your name?’  
Xephos and Honeydew.  
Despite the silent agreement to not inquire of one anothers pasts, Xephos did have one burning question inside him. He wanted to know, ever so desperately, why the bright and loud dwarf with such a jolly attitude would look sadly on the world as if he was just seeing it for the first time. Experiencing it with the spaceman. Maybe it was just an immersion technique to best help his new friend to learn the world around him. Perhaps it was more.

This world being an incredibly peculiar one. Xephos has seen the beach, the ice and the sea that stretches to the horizon, but what of the rest? Well, there was grass. Grass covered in the same thin layer of snow as the sand was. Same as the hills and mountains and even trees. But despite this, the grass had colour. So green, oh, so vividly green. Nature has sprouted just as, if not more, beautifully as it would in summer. Through the snow grew thick stalks that led to beautiful yellow and red flowers that spread through the land as commonly as the trees that were dotted about. Short yet beautifully green. If the spaceman was correct, which he usually was, they were oak trees, a staple of Minecraftia.

“It’s bloody freezing-” Xephos pointed out to his new companion who chose to wear grey trousers with, well, with nothing. Just a sash around his body that would assumedly carry tools and the sort. However, his sentence was cut off by something, the first of many, that had made him laugh. “Careful, careful,” he wheezed out in between sniggers as he hauled the dwarf out of the water. He’d just taken a step forward only to break an apparent fragile spot of the ice and fall through, making the spaceman giggle a lot. Yeah, this would be a great friendship.  
“Don’t try that at home, kids,” is all the dwarf said after recovering his breath. The funniest part of the situation is the way Honeydew had laughed more than Xephos did.  
Truly the greatest of friendships.

After walking a fair bit away, while pointing out the strange outcroppings of land around them, the two entered a light forest, still covered in the same snow, flowers and trees that surrounded that snowy beach.  
“How did you know it’s midday?” asked the spaceman who resisted the urge to peer at a watch he no longer wore. Time was told differently here to...home.  
“Well, if you look up into the sky you can see the sun, which is directly above us, right?”  
“Right?”  
“Which means it's mid day!” The dwarf explained that simply. It was refreshing, though, to see the world through simple eyes. Simple and carefree eyes.  
The two had continued to attack trees with their fists. They needed resources to survive here and so they went to town on the surprisingly weak wildlife of the panet. Trees fell at a few strikes of the hand and soon wooden logs littered to floor before being hoovered into each of their inventories.

Oh, well, an inventory is a person’s storage. Within them, like their soul. It was an art unknown to Xephos, until Honeydew enlightened him of it. That, and one's natural ability to craft at a basic level. He showed him how to turn logs to planks. Planks to sticks and all that into tools. He explained that one day, these tools would improve with stone and metal and that one day, they could make so much more. But for now, they made a wooden pickaxe.

“Oh, dude, there’s something up there in that cave,” Xephos digressed from the task at hand to point out a large depression in the side of a nearby mountain. A faint, green figure was up there stalking around the shadows and making distant hissing noises.  
“Is there?”  
“Yeah, it’s a green thing, look, bouncing.”  
“Oh christ almighty! It’s a Creeper. Yeah those are very, very bad. They follow you and they explode.” His ominous tone was mixed with annoyance. These ‘Creepers’ seemed like a problem but sounded like a mere irritant of this world that Honeydew had far too many experiences with.  
“Don’t go towards it!” The dwarf exclaimed as his naturally curious friend took hesitant footsteps towards the thing.  
“What’s this over here?” The spaceman asked almost immediately afterwards, completely switching his focus from one thing to another. “It’s a sheep!” He exclaimed. But Honeydew was still going on with his lecture on the danger of Creepers. Xephos just awed at the sheep and let the dwarf go on.

“Right, were going to be in trouble,” the bearded one carried on. Not the most reassuring thing to hear after a monologue on the dangerous beasts of this land. As the two collected wool from the surrounding wild sheep and wood from the vibrant trees, he went on to talk about the impending doom of night time. When the day ends and the world is faintly illuminated by the moon's cold glow, creatures come out. Bad creatures. The pair needed, and desperately so, shelter to survive the first night.  
He suggested a hole in the floor, but Xephos didn’t like it, so a shack would have to do. Work began on the small hut, while the two got to chatting again. Mainly they spoke of the night, Xephos a bit more optimistically than Honeydew did.

When they finished, Honeydew began crafting a door as the spaceman stared into the open world. He heard cows moo into the young night and worried for them. The dwarf pulled him in and closed the door, however, expressing the harshness of Minecraftia as the moos turned silent very quickly.  
This was a world of survival.

The shack itself was quite cosy. The two had very little leg room in between their wooden walls but at least they could look up through the leaves, that made their roof, into the stars. And the door had been made with the smallest windows in. Enough to see what was going on, but not to reach inside, heaven forbid that should happen.

They peered out through a narrowly open door on occasion to inspect the terrifying silence. Soon darkness was occupied by distant figures. A skeleton. The rattling of bones filled the silence along with Honeydew’s brave words of promise. Promise to inspect the scene and remove the threat. Promise that dissolved in the instant he laid eyes on the creature. He soon retreated into the shack once again and began to improve defences. Him and Xephos used their resources to craft swords of wood. And this time, they ventured out together.

The skeleton they met, lurking behind the shack, was about the same height as Xephos. Pure white bones held together by some supernatural force into a perfect skeleton that could somehow wield a bow and arrow. From a quiver it drew one sleek arrow. It notched the ammo into its bow and aimed. And fired. The pair’s bravery dissolved once again as they regrouped back to back.  
“Careful, friend,” Xephos whispered to his dwarven companion. The two made one last stand to banish the beast, and the two more that had appeared, from their property. Unfortunately, their basic weapons and lack of experience forced yet another retreat. And the fight went to the undead, who were joined now by a groaning zombie.  
“So, um, basically, if you don’t have any light, this is how you spend an evening in Minecraftia.” The dwarf followed his comment with a brief education on the fact that monsters could appear, spawn almost, in the darkness of the world and that light was the only way to prevent this.  
“The thing is, when the sun comes up, it burns, the um, the zombies and the skeletons outside.”  
“Oh, thank god,” replied Xephos in relief.

And speaking of, the sun did rise. The horizon was painted with beautiful oranges and yellows that warded the black of night away and ushered in day’s dazzling light. Xephos stepped outside in awe to stare at the scene. A shout filled the air, however, as an arrow sailed past the man’s head, forcing, yet another, retreat into the shack behind closed doors. A giggle came from Honeydew this time. A laugh that set Xephos off as he had set his friend off earlier. As they revelled in their companionship, the creatures outside perished. Zombies wailed in the flames and skeletons bones made a shriek-like sound as they rapidly shook and fell apart. The weak and falling apart beasts around the shack were now easily picked off by the pair of friends who finally went out into the open world to explore again. They claimed rotten flesh, bones and arrows from their fallen foes. Eventually, they came across the chickens that inhabited the realm and farmed them for their eggs. And although the dwarf did speak of pigs, they found none around and instead went on the search for stone. For stone and for coal. To make tools and torches and, hopefully, a new home.

What they stumbled upon was a large cave within a different mountain. This cave had a large and a small entrance. The large one led to a wide tunnel that opened out into an almost circular room that had the smaller entrance on one side. Above it was a natural skylight that, conveniently, had the coal they were searching for! As they climbed up rocks, cleared up dirt and collected the resources they needed, Honeydew proposed an idea. The two combined the coal with their sticks as they talked to craft torches and illuminate the space around them.  
“I reckon we should make our base in this cave! This is like a nice, natural sort of… thing isn’t it?”  
“Yeahhhhh,” replied the spaceman with a skepticism that dissipated quickly. As more torches were placed and room cleared out, the house felt more like a home. Especially as they went out through the large entrance again to collect more resources, only to find a gorgeous flowing waterfall down the mountainside.  
“It’s a good idea.”

And indeed the house became a home. Dirt and gravel were removed and doors were installed as any holes or openings were filled. Walls became smoother and so did the floors and roofs. That old shack was dismantled to make way for the new home on the map. The base of the two companions, and now, bestfriends.  
The base that they had named, now in its completion, the Yogcave.


	2. The legend of Pig Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two experience their first productive night and then set off for another day of exploration and hard work, all while their bond strengthens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adapted from the series: Minecraft - episodes 4-5 on the channel Yogscast Lewis and Simon

Location: The Yogcave, Earth dimension  
Planet: Minecraftia  
Date: 5th December 2010  
Cast: The heroes

This second night time was spent a lot more productively than the last. Throughout the torchlit Yogcave, the pair were working hard on various workbenches and tabletops. Now cowering or waiting was to be seen as they worked into the cold night. Honeydew teaching and Xephos learning became the standard of their progress together as the latter got to grips with this world and the former learned to see things from a fresh set of eyes. He taught him how to make more advanced tools from the stone they had collected and how to use those tools to gather even more stone and coal. Their quarrying led to the creation of the furnace, with which they would smelt sand into glass to use for windows, upon the spaceman's requests to make the cave more homely. 

When morning broke again, and the moon had settled beyond the sky, a day of adventure began to rise for the twosome. They ventured out once the rays of an early sun had shone through the doors' small windows, and set off up the mountain side to get a higher vantage point of their surroundings and perhaps see a larger beach than the one they met on. The search for sand was afoot, much like their quest for a more homely home.

However, not even halfway up, their hike was impared. The friends became startled, well, Honeydew became startled. By a noise somewhere ahead. This, in turn, caused Xephos to be startled by Honeydew.  
“OOP! Did you just hear that?” the dwarf asked after they calmed down. They both stood still now and listened out for more noise up the mountainside.  
“What’s that?...It’s like a hiss,” the spaceman announced after a second of silence preceded by a short distant noise. A noise that was, indeed, a hiss. Sharp and rabid.  
They both edged their way further upwards, wooden swords at the ready, towards the mountains peak and the direction of this ominous noise. The source, whatever it was, seemed to frighten the dwarf immensely.

“I can hear a spider very close,” He soon announced as they entered a cropping of trees that sat on a large flat area of dirt and stone that jutted from the side of this large hill. “It’s up here, Xephos-” A short sentence came out; cut off quickly by the confirmation of the monster's presence.  
“OH GOD!” rang throughout the air -a scream from the dwarf- as a large, eight-legged beast falls from the tree branches above. It landed on the grassy ground with a sickening crunch that sent chills down the companion’s spines. It clawed back into a steady stance as beast and human now stood opposite one another. They stared their respective opponents down, four eyes vs eight. Eight bright, red eyes that somehow gleamed through the sunlight. So faint yet still so eerie. The red eyes were a deep contrast against the black creature’s uncomfortable form. A head that housed a maw of hungry fangs. A body that sprouted eight lanky legs upwards from it, each one bending at almost a ninety degree angle so they could connect with the ground below and drive the spider rapidly towards its opponents.

And just that they did. As another one of the arthropods landed by the first, countless legs were set in motion. The two monsters hissed and spat at the fleeing pair who managed to make their way safely, but quickly, down the mountain and to the Yogcave’s safe entrance.  
“I DON’T LIKE ‘EM….I don’t like ‘em” Honeydew repeated as they ventured off, yet again, this time in the opposite way. “Let’s go to the beach, back to where we met. There should be some sand. Back down this way. Just peg it.” He kept talking to comfort himself as Xephos followed him to that frozen beach of impossibly warm sand. Xephos noticed, however, that it wasn’t as warm as it was during his first time here.

The dwarf continued to talk as they dug through layers of snow and into the beach below. They collected this resource with a stone shovel, made the night before, as he spoke about its use for windows and other various, new forms of building blocks such as sandstone. Of course, the spaceman’s curiosity overwhelmed his patience and he found himself wandering towards the large body of water behind them after just collecting his fair share of sand.  
“What’s over here, friend?”  
“I don’t know,” the bearded man replied as Xephos peered at a distant land that sprawled out before them on the other side of the water. It was quite far and quite different, but still connected to the landmass they were on now. As they swam across the shore, to make their journey quicker, the two saw the horizon grow clearer and clearer just as the contents of their destination did. Pumpkins! There was a patch of thick orange pumpkins sat amongst nature in tangles of vine and grass. And that grass was green. Green grass with no snow in sight. The hills in the distance, here, rolled like layers of a lush carpet and the fields were littered with less trees and more caves. Wide and thin holes alike that clearly led downwards to convoluted cave systems and tunnels beyond the spaceman’s imagination.  
“Let’s go, I like the winter wonderland that we’re in,” he proclaimed as they turned away from the grassy plains with piles of pumpkin in hand. Well, in inventory.

And the two headed home. Honeydew spoke of the food they’d need for the future, during this journey back home. Food like pigs and wheat that they could find in the world and farm for nourishment. Xephos then replied with complaints about how he needed to eat now. This lasted all throughout their journey home, and eventually beyond. The dwarf responded to his friend's complaints by taking him a fair ways further away to find some of the aforementioned food. And find this food they did.

The human’s speaking was cut off by an interruption from Honeydew:  
“There’s pigs,”  
“Pigs-”  
“AHHHHHHH,” the dwarf sang an impossibly high note at the magnificent sight before them.  
And ‘island’ truly is the only way to describe this sight. A small, floating mass of land hovered just out of reach of the two. It was disconnected from the ground and the surrounding hills in an unexplainable way. And on top of this was the treasure they sought: pigs! Two innocent creatures just bouncing around in the dirt, unbeknownst to the fact that they’re defying nature or are about to become a hearty meal.

Xephos had taken to them rather brutally. With a wooden sword, to be specific. It’s quite funny how he spoke of their cuteness as he claimed the spoils of slaughter. Maybe he was trying to comfort his poor human soul, or merely putting up appearances for his more sensitive friend.   
Either way, the act seemed not to dishearten either of them as they proceeded back home like before. Leaping back from the island to the closest hill, he seemed satisfied with the reward of his reaping as he followed his friend back.

The meat was thrown as quickly on the fire as it was cleaved from the animal’s body. Soon the boys had coal-cooked pork, all a lovely brown colour. The aroma of freshly cooked meat filled the air that the two took in as they indulged in the meal with such vigour. The ham’s were nourishing, very much so, and seemed to replenish their vitality tenfold.

Afterwards, Xephos sat down on the cold, but comfy, floor of their home to recover himself from the bloating and effort that hearty meals consumption inflicted. Meanwhile, Honeydew, the one more accustomed to feasting, pulled out a surprise he’d been working on. The spaceman was curious as to what he’d been tinkering with since their return and now it was finally unveiled.  
“A lantern?” the tall man asked, “oooo!” was his immediate follow up as the decoration was proudly placed on the floor before them. The dwarf had combined a torch with a carved out pumpkin to create a rather gothically beautiful centrepiece for their base. Its light illuminated to the far corners of the room and only added more layers of warmth to the pleasant atmosphere through its serene ambience. It physically made the place slightly warmer too, which was nice in a place so open to the elements.

“It’s quite homely now, isn’t it?” Honeydew said with pride.   
“I dunno. There’s no TV. Where’s the sofa?” The spaceman replied, shooting his friend down and then continuing to do so. He was still adjusting to his new life, after all. “There’s snow on the ground still we need to tidy this up.”  
The dwarf just ummed in response only to speak up moments later.  
“You’re very picky, aren’t you?” he jabbed, “ohhhh there’s snow on the ground ugghhh I don’t like dirt and snow.”   
Xephos frowned at the mockery of his voice, “it is quite homely I suppose…”  
“OH! I tell you what we could do,” his friend began suddenly. He was clearly striving to make the situation better and, with wooden planks in hand, he got to work in a snap. The man’s emotions would change like the winds. A rather apt fit for a stubborn spaceman, wouldn’t you say?

And so, while Xephos was smelting sand to glass and carving windows out of the cliffside, the dwarf was busy laying down a jagged yet elegant floor of oak wood. And as the Yogcave came along, so did their friendship. Both elements blossomed together beautifully in the survival of this strange world. It was magnificent, truly.


	3. The trial of the pyramid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're not alone...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adapted from the series: Minecraft - episodes 6-9 on the channel Yogscast Lewis and Simon.

Location: The Yogcave, Earth dimension  
Planet: Minecraftia  
Date: 6th December 2010  
Cast: The heroes

The pair wake up today, in the Yogcave as usual, to the miserable sound of monsters. Unpleasant groaning, hissing and rattling could be heard resounding from somewhere outside the walls of this safe house The guilty party of creatures were rapping at the door and windows that had been built where the large natural entrance to the cave once was.  
“Oh my god, there’s like a party outside our house,” the spaceman said as he pointed it out to his friend. The dwarf awoke with a ‘oh my god!’ of his own, except twice as loud. Fortunately though, the waterfall by that exit still ran as beautifully as ever; reflecting the rising sun of a new day. They were safe here, and had the other exit to leave through anyway.

Well, the other side was safe at least.  
“What’s going on there? What the fuck!”  
“I don’t know.” Xephos had a much calmer reaction to the sight; his inquisitive nature taking over and contrasting Honeydew’s shock. A contrast that lasted shortly until the two started laughing together about the strange whatever it was before them. Overnight, it appears, a strange and impossible happening has occurred. A tree has appeared!. A tree that is much, much larger than any other in the land. Its trunk sprouts proudly out of the ground and stands high above the mountain that the Yogcave is carved into. At the top is a rather disproportionately small foliage of leaves, held together by twigs. And from this trunk spawns one single thick branch that sticks far out of the side and houses another bunch of vibrant green leaves.

“Do you- do you think someone was here?” the dwarf asked shakily as he turned to look at his companion. Xephos gave a hardened look back and the two exchanged a shared feeling of worry. To ease their nerves, the pair went back inside to create an axe so they could begin removing the unnatural caricature of nature that stood outside their home. Swords were made too, of course.

After trimming as much wood off the thick tree as they could (and consequently making the leaves on top look more proportional) the two discussed the next item on their agenda.  
“The hole of doom!” Honeydew proclaimed in reference to that ominous depression on the side of that mountain that stands besides the beach where they met That same depression where creepers were seen stalking around.  
“Oh yeah, The Hole of Doom. I do wanna go back there,” he responded in a curious tone. Ever the explorationist.

The two, after conversing, took an axe to some innocent, nearby cows and crafted themselves some leather armour each, just trousers, and eventually set off to this The Cave of Doom

“Oh god. Well this is good bloody timing,” exclaimed an already angry Honeydew at the pair's neglect to check the time. Chopping trees, making tools and crafting armour took a long time of hard work that led the two to find themselves going off to explore in the throes of a setting sun. Still though, they pressed onwards. Across the beach and up the sheer mountainside.

When they entered the place they’d only seen from afar, as of yet, they threw torches down all over the show. It dented further into the mountain than they could initially tell, but the only riches to be found were small ores of coal. That, and the mysterious staircase.

Honeydew spoke first again, “was there just… a hole here?” The dwarf looked worried as he walked down the very clearly man made descent from the cave and onto the beach below.  
“I don’t know, man, I’m a bit scared. Shall we head back to the base before monsters start appearing?”  
But he was ignored. As one final item of the day took their attention. The duo of strange, man made structures becoming a trio.

“What’s that bright thing over there?” Once again, the dwarf initiated, “what’s that over there, Xephos?” he asked in a concerned manner as he looked across the frozen area of the sea.  
“I don’t know-”  
“Xephos, what the fuck is this? There’s like a pyramid over there!”  
“WHERE? It’s, like, pitch black. There’s a zombie!”  
A zombie and many more zombies. The two, little to Honeydew’s concern, had let the time go by far too quickly and their fears had come true. But the dwarf went on to the strange sight on the horizon as the spaceman trailed after him. 

Hacks and slashes were followed by groans as blood stained the ice below their feet.  
“Can we deal with this?” grunted Xephos while killing the attention that his friend was attracting. Zombies were joined by skeletons and soon by spiders. The pair traversed a gravel beach and then across to another large chunk of frozen sea.  
“What the fuck is this?” shouted the louder one of the pair as his friend had finished dealing with all the monsters.

The structure was indeed a pyramid. Large and floating atop the sea. Cold ice met with grey stone that made up the weird structure. Built up high, the thing seemed impossible and, yet again, to have appeared overnight. The inside was even stranger. The entire floor was made of flowing lava. A seething, orange liquid that flowed slowly throughout the place as if some invisible current were stirring the thick substance. Bubbles formed on the surface and popped in tandem with the sizzles that rippled through the air like the lava’s evermoving surface. And the ceiling was a large glass spotlight that showed off the moon’s gorgeous glow. What wasn’t a mystery, however, is the building's purpose. Dotted around the lava, in seemingly random places, was little stone platforms. Just big enough to stand on, they clearly invited any challenger to dare jump across each one to the teasing treasure chest that sat on the other side.

Xephos, as his nature dictates, experimented with their surroundings. And of course his counterpart argued against everything he did. His attempt to dig with a pickaxe through the walls was met with a ‘that wouldn’t be in the spirit of it’ and his idea to place some bricks and make a pathway across was met with ‘someone left this as a challenge!’ The dwarf, whether it be honour or fear of the unknown -perhaps both- found it in him to do the trials as intended. The two placed a chest on the ground, as to protect their belongings, and began to leap across the platforms. Unfortunately, it did not go as planned.

Short legs could only leap so far. The dwarf met a swift defeat in the hands of his own inability and overconfidence as one jump missed and his self fell into the fatal lava below. But worry not, reader! This universe has many peculiarities and uncertainties. One of them, beyond the inventory ability of the soul that Xephos hadn’t known about till three days ago, was the respawn system. Should a person die, their body, and soul, are transported away to a place safe and important to them. This system has many explanations throughout the solar system. Of course, being a man of science, Xephos understood the truth of it and all else that lay beyond this world. Of the people who played god and chose to remain hidden from half of space. That, however, is a story for another day. In his short few seconds of screams and shouts, to which Xephos let out a horrified ‘oh my god,’ the dwarf had found himself recalling the religions of his home kingdom. Of the great bearded gods who controlled life and death. He let himself respawn in peace knowing that his soul was safely in their hands.

He appeared on the beach. The beach of sand, now cold as all warmth had left it, where he had met his new best friend.

He ran back to the jumping puzzle quickly where the two made light of their situation. It was fun to run, jump and laugh through the pyramid and mock the other when they fell. Each of them would burn and reappear at the same fateful beach where they would sprint back and try all over again. And whereas the dwarf would slightly miss the next platform, you’d see the spaceman slightly overshoot and miss the platform. Eventually, Honeydew caved in and joined in with the idea-suggesting. He brought up the idea of crafting a bucket, from iron, and bringing water in to flood the place and solidify the lava into obsidian.

But distractions came yet again.

On one trip back to the jumping puzzle, the dwarf had seen yet another strange construct on the horizon, just opposite the pyramid but far enough away to be concealed in fog. Fog that cleared slightly now that day was rising again.  
“Look at this,” he exclaimed as Xephos joined his side. “Who's been building stuff. Someones been a busy bee.”  
It was a mini Stonehenge. Rocks were piled together in ways that would take immeasurable strength. They formed upside down ‘U’ shapes and strange pillars that all formed a large circle.

And just as the spaceman was admiring it, his friend pointed out another structure! Something else had been built amongst the fog of the world.

A house.

In the snowy terrain they found white dome made purely of snow with a tunnel jutting from the front. An igloo. A fire roared inside the place but the walls had only just begun to melt. Whoever was responsible for all this was not far gone. Probably just watching the two companions. Observing the way they completed their trials.

Alas, the two failed to pick up on this fact and simply returned to the trials of the pyramid. Here, they agreed on the bucket idea and began a quest for metal!

And luckily, it was found quite quick. A nearby cave, where the sea flowed gently through, housed a small vein of iron that, once obtained and smelted in a furnace, was to be turned into the key tool for their quest. Despite this completion, they decided to venture further down the cave. Their spelunking led to deep, deep tunnels in the planet where monsters did reside. A spider leapt from shadows and, in the pair’s moment of vulnerability, a creeper soon followed. The large green creature, made of four legs, a body and a head, soon turned white as its hiss echoed around them. The room was filled, then, with a bang and a lot of smoke. Though the two remained in decent condition and proceeded to laugh together at the surprise on one another’s faces.

Scaling back up was trickier than the descent, but by following the sound of flowing water, they made it up a fair way. A fair way that was cut off by the rare sight of a dungeon. It was curious, the sight of so many zombies that is, until Honeydew explained that these dungeons spawned monsters at unnatural rates. It was merely a large cube made of cobblestones and covered in moss. Around the edges were a few chests but the focus was on the burning cage in the centre. Inside was what the dwarf explained as a zombie soul. A small floating blue orb of flames that licked at its cage. So, while the dwarf gave his life to kill the overwhelming hoard of zombies, the spaceman took a pickaxe to the spawner and destroyed it...only for the last zombie to take his life too.

The both of them expressed their concern for the food and tools they’d left on the floor in their deaths as they made their descent, yet again, into this cave. After reclaiming their lost items, the pair began to raid the chests: bread, wheat, iron, gunpowder, a record, a saddle and a bucket. A bucket! 

They claimed it all as their own and left the dungeon after collecting some of the rather aesthetically pleasing mossy cobblestone for themselves. On the surface, they walked towards the ocean and scooped up a bucketful of cold, salty sea water.to use in their cheating of the pyramid trial.

The funniest part about this is the fact that they never ended up using it. The dwarf chose to make one final attempt at the parkour created for them and immediately succeeded in reaching the other side, where he was hailed by his friend’s cheering.  
“Well bugger me, I didn’t even need it,” is all he managed to say.

17 torches in the chest on the left. 3 pieces of pork in the middle and 4 eggs on the right. Wow.  
“Well that was worth us, fucking, dying repeatedly,” huffed the dwarf in distaste at the frankly awful ‘treasures’ they earned.  
“For goodness sake.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, if you have kept up this much :)  
> If anyone is wondering what my update schedule is then I'm hoping to release one chapter every other day. The next one will be Sunday!


	4. Dark constructions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adapted from the series: Minecraft - episodes 10 - 16 on the channel Yogscast Lewis and Simon.

Location: The Yogcave, Earth dimension  
Planet: Minecraftia  
Date: night of the 7th December 2010  
Cast: The heroes

“Hello honey!” the spaceman jokes. He’d just walked in to the Yogcave after that strenuous day of parkour and dungeons and felt in quite a good mood. A good mood that could never last long around here. Especially seeing how Honeydew was already home and with a special greeting in store.  
“I’ve put the heating on-”  
“WOAH! Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah. That’s not a good idea, Honeydew!”  
The special greeting this dwarf had in mind was to add a bit of warmth in the midst of this winter wonderland...by lighting a fire on the wooden floor of their house. 

Flint crackled with bright sparks as the dwarf ignited them by dashing steel against it. These sparks connected with his desired target, which is apparently the incredibly inflammable floor, to create a brilliantly warm and blazing fire. And as fire does, it spread across this floor at a concerning rate; consuming all in its path. It is safe to say there was no credit due here or anywhere in this situation. 

It was a stupid idea. 

And of course, the dwarf made no effort to help other than to watch from the corner and express an unnecessary amount of ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’ whilst Xephos frantically searched for a solution.  
Honeydew’s unconcerned noises continued through the spaceman's efforts to extinguish the fire with bucketfuls of water. The noises, however, soon became laughter as the fire merely continued to spread around the house while water filled up any other spaces. He made jokes and posed questions like 'would you rather have a house full of water or a house full of fire?'   
“It's getting quickly out of control, there's not enough water, I’m panicking!”  
“Look, first of all, don’t panic-”  
“Can we contain the fire- GAH! I’m on fire!” the spaceman continued to panic, “whew, no I’m not.”  
“You know, I think I kinda like it. Everything will be reborn in time, Xephos. In a baptism of fire...fire!” The dwarf monologues with a high pitched emphasis on the last word. Still making no effort to help. 

“Jesus Christ, what’s this,” the spaceman asked, ignoring his friend. The fire was eating away at more of their floor and had exposed another strange sight of this world. A hole, lit with torches, that extends down to a floor that’s close enough to see.  
“Huh?”  
“There’s like a hole,” he explained as the dwarf walked up to it.  
“What the fuck- AH,” Honeydew screamed, being pushed off the edge and down into the unknown by, of course, his best friend. His best friend who stood in the flames above and laughed like nothing was wrong. They were as insane as each other.

The weirdest thing is what was down there. Just a small patch of grass with a small sapling next to a single red rose. There was a ring of torches around them, illuminating the space. No explanation or context was in sight, however, so they both just moved on. After confirming that his friend was okay, Xephos returned to the burning issue at hand.

It took him digging through the walls to access the crafting table from a safe angle. He crafted a stone axe and made sarcastic comments about how lovely and warm his friends' heating is. The axe he made came down and cut up the floor surrounding the fire to cut it off while his friend, who had just climbed back up, used stones and water to put that fire out. He also took the empty buckets to the water and removed any new fountains his previously panicking friend had made. 

Eventually, they scrounged up enough new planks of wood to rebuild the majority of the floor and return the cave to its former glory. A task made even harder by the next instance of mysterious happenings in this world.

Honeydew had just gone out to collect more wood from trees. While Xephos was cooking, however, he heard his friend scream ‘OH MY GOD’ into the new morning, followed by a loud bang. Well, this could only be a good thing.

"SOMEONE PUT IN A BOOBY TRAP!" The dwarf had spoken so loudly from his respawn point at the beach that Xephos could hear him from the cave as he looked down into the new crater. Where a back door (the previously large entrance of the cave) once stood, there was now an empty hole where smoke was settling. 

And the spaceman couldn't help but laugh. 

When his friend returned, the two shouted at one another, half shocked half laughing. Accusations were thrown around and questions were angrily asked as they cleared up the debris. They settled on the idea that whoever had made the mysterious structures, which they called dark constructions, had also made this, and the hole in the base. 

"Right, this has given me an idea," announced the short one.   
"What do you mean it's given you an idea? Ohhh we're gonna have a little pool!"   
Xephos watched as his friend dug a small tunnel from the base of the nearby waterfall and into the new hole. 

However, it quickly saddened them as the grand idea to build a moat of sorts depressed into a sad puddle outside their broken wall.   
The spaceman, in an attempt to beautify this, used the recovered mossy stone from the dungeon to build a bridge over the explosion hole. He also carved out the wreckage of the wall to make it look more cave-like and create a rather attractive and natural feature. 

In the meantime, the dwarf was explaining how these kind of traps were set up and shouting profanities at whatever terrorist, as he called the mysterious man, was at large. 

"I took a bomb for you, Xephos. Never forget that."  
"I love you."

The two went on to renovate the cave to its former glory, after both incidents, and then on to the mountainside outside. Out here, Xephos was proudly showing off some work he'd been doing while his friend had been in the mine or gathering food. 

A few large walls were jutting up above where the Yogscave's roof is. Four that climbed up to form a sort of unfinished tower. The spaceman was explaining his great plans to extend it as high as the mountain and form a castle, of sorts, and open up their roof to the natural sunlight. 

Unfortunately, the sun had already begun to set on an exciting day. Honeydew urged his friend to halt his work till the morning, for safety's sake, and set off inside. 

Through the night, they worked on the back door. The dwarf had expressed his distaste of the open plan and soon enough Xephos agreed. They rebuilt the wall and the door but left the lovely bridge and water hole on the outside. 

They'd also done some more mining and had upgraded their tools from stone to iron in preparation for the building of Lewis's great tower.   
But when day came, and the pair finished their interior design, mining was apparently the only thing on their mind. More torches were crafted and food cooked as they returned to the darkness of the deep mine shafts and hunted for rarities. 

And it was quite the mine, indeed. They'd found many piles of lightly glowing redstone. The magic dust that carries a current and is used in mechanical crafting recipes. They made clocks and compasses and all manners of gadgets. They also obtained a fair amount of gold to upgrade their tools further and incorporate in these new gadgets. 

Beyond all that, they even managed to dig down to bedrock. This is the layer of unbreakable stone that separates the surface of Minecraftia with the core that every planet has: the Nether. A trip they'd make another day. 

On these deep levels the two came across pools of water and pools of lava. The ones that mixed formed obsidian, a stone tougher than all but bedrock. And still they wanted more. After setting up a mining base, aptly named the Obsidian Outpost, they spoke of the greatest rarity of all. Diamonds 

And of course, they found that too. They were determined to, after all, and with a hearty dwarf on their side, nothing could stop them from excavating the world of its precious treasures. 

Using these diamonds, they made a pickaxe of the highest possible calubur, at least from this planet's materials. And now nothing, once again bar bedrock, was unobtainable to them. Obsidian was theirs for the taking! And that they did. 

It would come in very handy later. 

Back on the surface, in the bright sun of midday, Honeydew led his friend back to the infamous Hole of Doom. That empty hole in the side of the mountain with unexplained stairs carved out. Though they assumed it was merely another dark construction. 

They fixed up a flat and stable platform in here out of cobblestones and dirt. Atop it, the dwarf was planning to make a dark construct of his own. 

A large doorway made of the pitch black obsidian was carefully created here, in this hole named doom, that stood ominously over the surrounding world. It stared down at the beach where the two friends had met. 

"Now. Set the inside of it on fire," commanded Honeydew. 

Xephos struck the steel against flint and ignited the obsidian on the bottom of this strange rectangle of pure black. The flames that burned quickly became a deep and beautiful purple colour. In almost an instant, it swirled up to fill out the hollow obsidian circle and create a distorted doorway. 

A portal had been constructed.   
A portal… to the Nether. 

It growled and hissed. The noises pulsed like its faint purple glow against the stone below. The pair looked at it in fear and armed themselves for whatever lay on the other side. Food, swords and building materials were taken in hand and their first steps were made. 

Through the portal. 

And nothing happened! True to form, it was apparently broken. Or perhaps blocked… 

Either way, Xephos and Honeydew wandered back home and laughed at themselves for the portal failure. It was a blissful ignorance. They have no idea what they just opened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Perhaps I fell asleep while editing... expect chapters every two - three days aha.


	5. Construction interrupted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The creator of those dark constructions... has he finally revealed himself?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adapted from the series: Minecraft - episodes 17 - 22 on the channel Yogscast Lewis and Simon.

Location: The portal, Earth dimension  
Planet: Minecraftia  
Date: 12th December 2010  
Cast: The heroes, ???

Fire burned by the portal now. A sort of isolated flame that obeyed its place on the slabs of stone it occupied. One here and another there. Ominous flames that remained in The Hole of Doom without spreading beyond or within. 

They weren't the only change as the stones that made up the portal’s platform were turning rapidly green in a crooked circle spreading outwards from the gateway. Dark, slimy moss grew across this platform that caused the spaceman to initially think his friend, who was also here inspecting the mess, had brought out more of the dungeon stone.

Except this was different to the natural moss you’d find in a damp dungeon deep underground. This was corruption. A malice. All accompanied by the terrifying pumpkins placed about with jagged faces carved into them and flickering torches burning within. 

“There’s like mushrooms here- woaahhh. This is not how we left it, Honeydew!” The spaceman had walked up a new series of stone stairs that lead right up to the portal and was now taking in whatever had been happening here.

The dwarf was wandering around it and falling off stones while swearing at the sight before him.  
“I think something’s leaking out of the portal. We can’t go in...but something is creeping out.”

The pair continued to lurk around it and express their concerns to one another, but no explanation could be found, once again, regarding a problem with a dark construct. 

Eventually, the spaceman digressed and drew his friends attention to his work-in-progress tower above the Yogcave. It was strange to see how desensitised they've already become to strange occurrences. 

Anyway, he’d built it up higher and liked to show off his feat of architecture, even if it was rather plain looking. The Yogtower, that is. He interrupted himself, however, to apologise for leaving the cave door open, once they returned home.   
“What if it’s not you that left it open! That’s the fucking thing,” replied the dwarf ominously as he scratched at his beard. The dark constructs have etched fear into the back of their minds and showed that maybe it's not a desensitisation and perhaps a fear they're trying to avoid. 

“We need to hurry up!” Expressed Xephos, who urged a change of topic. He’d pulled an iron shovel out and started excavating the dirt roof of their cave house. The Yogcave met with his tower and became one, like a massive chimney, as the spaceman's grand design expanded through talks of spiral staircases and glass ceilings. Unfortunately, they never chose the best of times to begin work, so while the dwarf messed about in chests, or whatever, Xephos began to panic about monsters climbing in through the exposed tower above. 

And just as night plunged the world into darkness.

And the Yogcave was at its most exposed, with heroes in a flustered state.

There was a sighting of someone nearby.

“Errrr...can you see that over there, Honeydew?”  
“Who the hell is that?” the dwarf shouted at the silhouette of a person leaning over the top of the tower. Someone whose eyes glowed with a faint red gleam like spiders eyes did. That's all that could be seen of the figure from down there.  
“I have no idea- WOAH!” Arrows began raining down as soon as whoever that was had retracted. They held a bow and arrow and began shooting down at what may as well have been fish in a barrel.  
“OW!” Bellowed the dwarf, taking an arrow to the knee.

They both retracted themselves too, deeper into the cave, where Xephos tried to strategise and Honeydew shouted ‘OI.’  
“Friend, we need a plan,” said the spaceman seriously.  
“I’m very stressed,” is all his companion could mutter in return through a mouthful of cake they’d made. Covered in cocoa and filled with orange jelly, I believe it’s called the ‘Jaffa Cake.’

The arrows continued to shoot from above the tower. The pair’s reaction was to erect a temporary wall of dirt to shield themselves while they theorised about the person's identity.  
Eventually they agreed on a Trojan Horse attack. An awfully strange strategy, where the pair would come out presenting flowers with swords behind their back, that began as soon as they could hear this person's footsteps stomping about outside the door.

They caught a glimpse of him dashing into the horizon as they trailed him out the door. His skin was white. Pure, snow white. But not in a nice soft way. In a deadly, pale way that was carried only by himself and skeletons. He made a dash across the icey beach and frozen sea. Our two heroes continued to trail.

Past the pyramid they all went. Past the stonehenge and past the igloo. They chased him for so long that the sun had began to rise again. And of course they had lost him.   
The worry was unshakable now.

They continued to scour the surroundings and search till midday for the mysterious intruder. The trees were absent in this part of the world turning the winter wonderland into a barren tundra of dirt, snow and stone. However, this effort was in vain. No tresspaser was to be found, despite Honeydew’s paranoid checking of every cave and hole, and no sign of him either. 

“Pfft, that was a bit of a diversion, wasn’t it? We haven’t got any roof building done,” complained Xephos. The spaceman and the dwarf had now found refuge in the torchlight of The Hole of Doom. Night had fallen again, and this was the closest lit up place they could find.  
“Well I didn’t expect some crazy bastard to start shooting at us!”  
Xephos replied to that with a disgruntled grunt.

After talks of making bows of their own, the two agreed they needed to get back to the Yogcave. Not just for materials but safety and warmth. Honeydew rambled about the ‘womb-like embrace’ of their house while tunneling down and towards the general direction of the cave. As the dwarf did what dwarves do best, his companion hung torches on the wall and picked off any resources they mined past. Eventually, water streamed through a hole made by Honeydew and they shortly found themselves making a secret entrance from the portal to the waterfall that flowed outside their house. 

They removed the dirt wall that was temporarily put up to defend against their mysterious attacker and got to business with the tower once again. Now that light shone through, the spaceman could safely build a staircase of stone up the side that zig-zagged to the top.  
“You’ve built the shittest stair case I’ve ever seen,” laughed the dwarf from the floor below.  
“It’s a double-back staircase!” Exclaimed his friend in a pathetic attempt to defend the awkward architecture he’s creating.  
This back and forth of the dwarf’s criticisms and the spaceman's defence went on right to the top of the tower, where their previous assailant once shot at them.

“The hell is that over there?” Digressed the taller one. From this vantage point atop the mountains, it appears he’s seen another dark construct, this time amongst the hill tops.  
“Come here, Honeydew.”  
“Uh-oh. Have you found something?”

Xephos led his companion to what he spotted. Going down into a valley and then back up into the neighbouring mountain, the pair found a strange, run down house. Definitely a dark construct. An unfinished house made entirely of dull grey clay and crumbling stones. It was creepy and left one with an eerie tune in their soul that flickered like this ruins' sputtering torches. 

Wishing not to incur the stranger’s wrath, they left the place alone and returned back to the construction of the tower. Well, Xephos did. His friend went on to create bows and arrows so he could play target practice with nearby spiders and creepers.  
“I feel fucking nails.”

After an eventful few days, the adventurers took a well deserved rest in bed. A nice night of sleep on a soft pillow instead of pursuing people or building walls. A nice, uneventful night.

It was a pleasant contrast with their jarring morning. No waking moment for these two was a rest, it seemed, as the house had been changed during the twilight hours. Or rather, had been changed by that mysterious person. The front door now had an ominous sign warning to leave it closed, while the back door promised there was no booby trap this time. The strangest thing was the way their famous waterfall had been walled off and diverted down a different side of the mountain. The front door had a new waterfall of its own, too.

The pair were used to it at this point, though. After their curiosity died down, they returned back to the construction of their tower. The Yogcastle, Xephos had dubbed the combination of the Yogcave and Yogtower. Creative.

They argued about the number of floors and locations of stairs. They tossed tools and building materials back and forth and slowly made their progress with this grand building. There was jabs at the overnight additions to the house and of course one another. 

Only for it to once again be interrupted by him.

Arrows from the cave below shot up at the two builders and spurred out a shout of ‘FOR GODS SAKE!’ from the fiery dwarf. With precaution thrown to wind, they rushed the strange man. They wouldn't let him get away this time. 

So they ran down the stairs and tailed him yet again, this time with much more verve and vigour. Unfortunately, he was prepared. He'd made an escape through a tunnel that had been newly unearthed but made long ago, clearly a past hiding space. The two of our heroes had to mine rapidly through the attackers attempts to block it off with stones thrown behind him. 

Dwarven might prevailed, however, and the chase continued. Once again, they saw this person dash across the frozen sea. This time to yet more constructions: a small stone gateway and a gravel path across the grassy plains. As they got closer, they could see the man's dark black suit contrasting with their deathly white skin. Like an enderman in the snow. 

But the strangest sight was the way this path led to a grand bridge. It was made of wood and hung over the sea. It connected two large hills and separated the winter wonderland from the open green fields and opened up a whole new world to the companions. It stood out of place, even more so than the pyramid or the stonehenge that seemed to find natural familiarity with their surroundings. 

“Holy shit, this is a work of architecture, isn’t it?” The spaceman complimented the scene whereas the dumbfounded dwarf could do no more than um and awe in rapture of the constructions. These weren’t dark constructions, no, someone else had made these, that was very clear.

So they followed this road . The strange person was no longer on their mind as they went on to search for whoever had made such a lofty creation as bridges and roads.   
It wound through fields and through forests until eventually, another strange sight.   
Possibly the strangest of all.   
“Uh, who the hell is that over there?” The dwarf had apparently spotted someone new and shouted back to his friend about it.   
“What?”  
“Um?”

At the end of the road was an old, balding man with hair around the side of his head. He had a sunken wrinkled face that'd clearly seen many things and had great stories to tell; his eyes gleamed with a roguish wisdom. He was an adventurer like these two, that much was clear. Although, probably not clear to these two who were simply bedazzled by the idea that they weren’t alone in this secluded area of the planet.

“Hail traveller!” Came his deep and raspy voice. “You look tired from such a long travel. Follow me to the inn and drink with me.”  
Further down the path they went, following this peculiar old man. It wasn’t long before they came to a large wooden arch that saw the path sink into a valley. A valley that held a whole village. There were houses of wood and houses of stone. There were people and there were farms. The heroes were still in shock that such a settlement existed this far out from anything, but here they were in the middle of nowhere. And inthe middle of a thriving town.

They wandered down the pathway through flowers and animals and into what must be the inn.   
“Would you like a refreshing bottle of milk?” offered the old man. The heroes drank skeptically while looking at one another in fear. Fear of the unknown and who these people were. Their previous encounters with a native had been rather bad, after all. Where was that stranger in the suit, anyway?

“Where are we,” Xephos finally gathered the courage to ask.  
“Welcome to Terrorvale!” Proclaimed the old man behind the bar counter. “Quaintest little hamlet in all of Minecraftia.”


	6. The house on the hill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Terrorvale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adapted from the series: Minecraft - episodes 22-24 on the channel Yogscast Lewis and Simon.

Location: Terrorvale, Earth dimension  
Planet: Minecraftia  
Date: 15th December 2010  
Cast: The heroes

Night had fallen now, on that quaint hamlet in the valley, and the two were drinking milk by the bucket load to refill their stamina. That old man, who'd introduced himself by the name Old Peculiar, worked behind the bar of the Inn, washing dishes and answering any questions the dwarf and the spaceman had to ask.   
"This guy freaks me the fuck out!" The dwarf was whispering, and rather loudly, I might add, to his friend across the table who was still taking in their surroundings and trying to make a sound judgement of his own.   
"Have you heard any rumours?" Honeydew had abandoned any hope of talking to his overwhelmed friend and turned back to Old Peculiar. The old man seemed to beam with joy at the idea of meeting new people, in contrast to Xephos. He was excited to help them out as best he could. "Like, what is there to do around Terrorvale… anand have you heard anything about a strange pale man. And I'm not talking 'bout Xephos here."   
"Hey."   
"Well, I hear the blacksmith is in need of some assistance," Old peculiar answered without acknowledging the question about the pale man, "I'll show you the way!" The old man spoke with sociable glee as usual and walked off with the vigour of someone less than half his age. Our heroes followed him out of the Inn and across the pathways of Terrorvale. Past a nice fountain and ominous cave, they took a right turn into a large stone building that housed anvils and forges. And of course, inside they found the blacksmith herself. 

"What a pretty young lady!" burst the shorter one at the sight of the woman before them.   
She blushed and replied with a polite 'hello there.' Xephos said hello too, and the old man was beside him, but the newly romantic pair before them seemed to be in their own world.   
"Do you need help?" the dwarf asked with a sly wink.   
"Aye, but not like that," replied our blacksmith with a wink just as telling.   
"Oh for goodness sake you two," muttered the spaceman.   
"Actually," the tone changed in her voice all of a sudden, "I'm in need of some brave souls."   
Her voice was soft and fair but her dialect was certainly that of a rough blacksmith. Her outfit reflected that too. On top was a stained, oily, black apron that had seen hours of forging and repair work. But underneath that was a lovely dark green dress. Fair and reserved, it fell just above her ankle. And her hair was held in a sensible and safe braid that collected her golden locks into a drape across her shoulder, but still it housed two pretty red flowers. 

"Here we go!" exclaimed the adventurous one with fiery hair as he turned to acknowledge his friend again.   
"Now, I can make you the best diamond armour in the region… except I need the ore. This is where you chaps come in! What do you say? Help a gal out?"   
"We accept your quest!" the spaceman immedietly proclaimed, eager to leave. Well, whatever their reasons, it's important that both our heroes are enthusiastic about the missions they're set.   
"I could never turn down a girl in need," gushed Honeydew as they followed the woman out the blacksmith and towards that aforementioned ominous cave. Well, next to it rather. A sign was planted in the grass that said 'beware caverns.' No caverns were visible here and the creepy cave clearly seemed like the place to go. 

That is, until the blacksmith pulled out a shovel and tore up the dirt around the sign. She exposed a large hole in the ground. A cavern, if you will.   
"I didn't catch your name," flirted the dwarf. He sat on the edge of the new hole and looked up at the maide, his legs swaying back and forth like a child's.   
She smiled down at him and blushed, "Daisy. Daisy Duke."   
So, with an 'ugh' from Xephos and a wink from Honeydew, they both headed into the caverns below in the search for diamonds. Again. 

"I hope you've got torches," muttered the dwarf, his attitude now one of determination. The spaceman placed burning sticks on walls and across the floor as they wandered through twists and turns of stone and cobwebs. They waded through underground springs and climbed down sheer drops into the unknown. All while fighting away hoards of deadly giant spiders that sprung at them from every single dark nook and cranny of their environment. 

They found the treasures eventually, however. The dwarf, as his heritage inclines, dug mightily through the stone and collected the ore for his friends, old and new. The spaceman took some wooden planks and built a makeshift staircase back at the cavern entrance Daisy had dug out so the two could emerge in the bright day light with 'horrays' and 'hurrahs." The journey back was just a boring stroll for the spaceman, but his friend practically skipped back to Terrorvale with glee. 

Daisy collects the diamonds and rewards Honeydew with a hug. She takes the riches back to her workshop and makes a suggestion on another touristy spot in town, "you should go meet the reverend! These will take a while to make after all." Daisy' s recommendation led the pair to the largest building in town, with Old Peculiar in tow again. While she went and hammered away at the tough materials, our three companions wound up on the door of St Creepers.   
"A closed mouth gathers no foot," Xephos read aloud from the sign above the entrance.   
"St creepers," the dwarf pointed out, "now hang on," he said with a nervous chuckle. The building quickly became a dark construct of a different kind thanks to the combination of signs outside it, made only worse by Old Peculiar's comment,  
"be tactful with the reverend. He's never been the same since his son died."

But, the welcome they got was quite the opposite of what these supposedly telling signs were indicating.   
"Welcome dwarf! And strange man from space."   
"Hello!"   
"Greetings!" replied Xephos and Honeydew respectively.   
The building had rows of wooden benches all facing an altar with no book. There were stained glass windows of random colours on the walls to the left and right while the back wall saw a cross hung up on it.   
"I am John. Disciple of Notch. As you may of heard, I lost my son years ago to creepers."   
The dwarf just muttered to himself about poor naming for this church.   
"My house was overrun by the things!" he shouted in pain. "I beseech you! Please go to my house and recover my belonging!"   
"Belonging, singular?" asked the strange man from space.   
"My bible," he explains, "and in return I shall reward you handsomely."   
"Where is your home?" Inquired Honeydew, a bit too eagerly. Xephos was slightly perplexed at the convenient amount of quests this city bore. Daisy's could happen to anyone, a blacksmith always needed materials. But this too, huh?   
Reverend John just nodded at the question and led the two friends, Old Peculiar too, of course, through Terrorvale once again and up to a decrepit House on the hill. 

It was made of mossy cobblestones, although the green was more present than the grey. The remains of a wooden roof stood over the top of this sad box that seemed to still be housing an undying fire. It was fueled by some force from the day his son died long ago and watched through the building's broken windows at the town below.   
So, up they went. Up a rather grand wooden staircase to the shack on the hill as the Reverend stayed behind and whispered 'I dare not enter.' 

"Monsters! Do not enter!!!!" It was the dwarfs turn to read the signs aloud as his friend followed closely. Even the innkeeper had chosen to leave this one out. The crackling of fire resonated across the hill and left the atmosphere dull and moody. Said fire was perfectly contained in one spot, just like around the Nether portal, as if they burned atop invisible torches. The pair walked past them and headed down the staircase and into the building's basement. Down here they found a terrifying sight that had trumped them before: a zombie dungeon. And trump them again it did. 

As they retreated to gear up with Daisy's armour and eat some recovering food, the innkeeper provided more info.   
"The poor man, his son Israphel was out hunting when the creepers got him."   
Honeydew repeated the name, pronouncing it like is-Raphael, and visibly shuddered. Xephos shuddered too. None knew why, but the name shook our two friends.

Back at the Inn, Old Peculiar carried on talking as he prepared some food for them. After mentioning, with a 'by the way' he explained that the Inn is called the Skeletal Arms. A pleasent name to hear as the sun sets on another grim day. What was creepiest, however, is that upon searching for Daisy, they found the blacksmith empty with nothing but a diamond sword, chest plate and leggings.   
"You look fabulous," Old Peculiar complimented as the pair equipped their new gear. Xephos with a diamond chest piece and sword, Honeydew with the diamond leggings and bow. He also had a back up iron sword of his own.

Newly equipped, they headed back down to clear the basement. They insisted the innkeeper came along to keep explaining the situation to them. 

Arrows fired and swords swung as the the dungeon eventually got cleared out. The spawner was removed and the zombies were slain, but no book was to be found.   
"There are many strange caverns under this town," commented the old man as they emerged into the empty house. With no book in hand, they returned to St Creepers to confront the Reverend. 

"For God's sake, he's not here either!" shouted Xephos upon returning to the building. "Agh!"   
"Is he in the crypt…" suggested the dwarf, "although, I don't think we should pry!"   
Tension grew as the minor quest spiralled from grand adventure to a dark mystery. The dwarf clearly wanted out, and to help Daisy a bit too, but the curiosity of his friend reigned. The spaceman charged straight to the crypt and pushed his friend in front to make sure he went in. 

Through a stone entrance and down some steep stairs, they descended into a cramped stone room. There were seven coffins in total, three on each side and one in the centre against the back wall. In front of that lone coffin was the reverend looking down at it. Alone and in silence.   
"What's he doing, Xephos-"   
"What?!" the Reverend was shocked to see them, "you have returned?"   
"Yes. We had no luck finding your Bible!" the dwarf took charge again. He just needed the space man's encouragement sometimes to see an adventure through. It's what he loved most, after all.   
"My lord told me I would not see you again!" he growled. The man of God had turned almost feral in this sudden anger. These two had survived a judgement and it enraged him.   
"Taste my holy blade!" He practically screamed. The Reverend pulled out a golden blade, but no holy light came off it. In fact, the golden shine was almost dull, and the blade looked malicious. He struck at the dwarf, cutting his arm as he retreated. Luckily, Xephos stepped up and drove his diamond sword straight through Reverend John's chest. Killing him immediately. You'd think that impossible in this world of respawning, but that man served a dark force. He didn't respawn again. He was dead for good. Karma reigns here, in this universe. You are dark or you are light. Your choice to respawn is yours alone. 

And that dark force's name was engraved in that single coffin the Reverend seemed to be worshipping. It was the grave of Israphel. 

His picture was on top. He was a handsome young boy, 20 at the oldest. His hair was pure black and his eyes a calm brown. He looked intelligent, like one of those people who constantly had a thought brewing up in their head. But what made this picture truly terrifying, to our heroes anyway, was it's undeniable ressemblance to him. The pale faced, suit wearing man who'd built dark constructs around their house and shot them full of arrows. 

This was a fight against Israphel. It always has been.


	7. A sinister discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What lays deep below the crypt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adapted from the series: Minecraft - episodes 24-27 on the channel Yogscast Lewis and Simon.

Location: Terrorvale, Earth dimension  
Planet: Minecraftia  
Date: Night of the 16th December 2010  
Cast: The heroes

"John? What!"   
"John went insane, friend."   
The dwarf had his hand on Old Peculiar's shoulder. He was comforting the old man who now stood bereaved at the crypts door. Staring at where his friend once stood.   
"He often came down here," the old man went on, his voice plagued with grief, "it was a bit weird, to be honest. He obsessed over his son's tomb. Still."  
"Do we need to burn and salt the body?" The spaceman said from the other side of the room. He was detached from those two as he analysed the tomb and speculated about Israphel. Is he a ghost or a spirit? Is it supernatural at all or is there a perfectly good explanation.   
The dwarf sighed and retreated up the steps of the crypt, "I'll see if I can find some flint and steel, you talk to Old Peculiar."   
"You two seemed surprised when you saw his tomb. Have you heard about him before?" The Old man asked Xephos, the pair now alone.   
"Yeah…we've run into him before."   
"... years ago?"   
"yesterday, actually, right before we met you." 

And while the spaceman was shocking Old Peculiar with another revelation, the dwarf had started striking stone against metal to make sparks fall on the wooden coffin.   
"I-impossible! He died five years ago," his face went incredibly pale as he took the news. He seemed to believe it, as well, despite whatever spirituality he held back, "you are certain it was Israphel?"   
"He was pale and wearing a black suit," Xephos confirmed.   
"I have heard the rumours… but I never believed them. I even saw his corpse on the day of the attack. But there were rumours of John being involved in dark arts-"   
"UM… WHAT!" Xephos suddenly exclaimed, directing his attention elsewhere.   
The dwarf sighed, "come on, friend, it's not that surprising."   
"No. Honeydew, come here. Look at this!"   
He stood by the burnt tomb of Israphel and looked through its now broken wooden body and into to the deep pit of the tomb. Against the back wall was a simple wooden door. 

"This bodes ill," commented the old man who stared into the charred remains. No body was there to look back, but his stare was locked on something. Something that wasn't there. The wrinkles on his face had creeped up to his age during the past few minutes. His bright expression was dim and the carefree glint in his eyes was now a deep glare reflecting the light of the room. 

The dwarf comforted him again and steered him down to the door. He went first, followed by Xephos then Old Peculiar. It was a tight fit of stone and dirt with poorly carved stairs leading further down. At the bottom of them was a larger room with a door at the end and torches on the wall.   
"Oh, fucking hell," spat the spaceman after noticing the floor. Both him and the dwarf had been walking in patches of blood, still fresh enough to be a dark red colour that collided elegantly with the drab grey around it.   
They pressed forward while warning their third party member and edging towards the door.   
"I hope that Daisy's down here," muttered Xephos in an attempt at positive thoughts. 

Positive thoughts that quickly became negative as they descended a spiral staircase to find, well, Daisy. Her being here was not the best thing after all. Especially seeing as Israphel was on her arm.   
"Help me!" She shrieked as they descended into a large cave. And I mean large. The place she shrieked from was atop a wall. A castle wall. Inside a swirling moat of lava was a terrific castle made of stone bricks. There were towers at each corner with skeletons poised between the turrets. There were zombies and spiders that crawled across the floor before it, guarding the entrance. And there were creepers hissing at our heroes from the shadows around them. 

But still, the most terrifying monster here was him. His red eyes were wide and manic. They matched his comically large mouth that fell into a permanent frown. His face was distorted like a creepers and the expression said kill. It wasn't a sad or a disapproving frown. It was the frown of someone who'd caused so much death that he knew not how to smile. 

"She's up there!" Old Peculiar shouted with sword in hand. Xephos and Honeydew had to work together to hold him back from a brave, but stupid, one man seige on the castle as arrows rained down on the staircase exit. 

Of course, the spaceman had now seen the enemies power and was calculating a strategy. The dwarf, however, had a great power called teamwork and saw that together they could siege it as one big unit of power! Probably.   
"Fuck it, let's just charge!" He shouted as an interruption to Xephos' mumbles of 'ground troops' and 'enough food?' 

The old man loved this plan. 

"Okay, we're going!" Xephos didn't like the plan. He huffed and puffed in contrast to the dwarfs battle cries and got to the castle gate with more panicking than he'd ever done in his life. 

And it all got worse when they entered. The castle gate simply turned on a hinge as if it were a large wooden door. Behind it was multiple doors and a neat chequered floor. At the back was a very grand staircase that split in two and led up to two second floor balcony. Atop the left one, Israphel watched with piercing eyes. His staircase was guarded by a giant, axe wielding zombie. "Brains!" It screamed in a low, dragged out voice as it hobbled over to our castle crashers.   
"That's the zombie boss," Old Peculiar explained, "he's slow but strong. Do not let him get you." 

It was a strenuous fight. Any stab into his body simply melded into its flesh like jelly. Arrows did the same and it was apparant that a punch would be unwise to throw. But that zombie lacked our three heroes ambition to save Daisy. He wasn't intelligent and all his strength came from his weight. The bigger, and heavier, they are, the harder they fall. 

"Together!" The old man suggested, welding a weathered stone sword. A weak blade with chips and cracks that had seen many battles and looked ready to see its last. 

Xephos and Honeydew nodded and worked together to bring him down. They charged simultaneously and slid to their knees as they drove their respective diamond and iron swords into the Zombie Bosses knees. The beast crumbled into his weak joints and brought himself to the perfect height for a certain old man to take a slash so powerful it brought the things entire head off. The other two companions watched in awe as the monster dissappeared along with Old Peculiar's crumbling sword. 

Israphel just turned and went deeper into the castle. 

The old man's strength seemed to eminate from his body as he led the charge up the staircase. He seemed ready to tear this place apart stone by stone if he had to.   
But of course, Israphel had a counter. 

"Oh my god!" The dwarf screamed.   
"Watch out!" The spaceman warned. 

A loud 'hisssss' resonated throughout the room. Above them was a glass ceiling that looked up to the cave's dark heights. And atop that was another abnormal monster in Israphel's army. 

The Creeper Boss. 

A large creeper, whose four legs tapped rapidly against the glass, was now laying TNT above them and lighting it too fast to see. Yes, it had arms. Two gross and deformed arms with knobbly fingers of black and green skin. It laughed maniacally as it blew the TNT up along with himself. Xephos had sped towards a different staircase and ran up to assassinate the thing but got there too late, The explosion knocked him back and he lay injured on the castle roof. Although he was minorly damaged, not everyone was as fortunate. 

Old Peculiar lay on the stairs under a pile of glass shards and stone debris. The dwarf could tell that his strength had left him as he pulled him out from the rubble. Old Peculiar would not pull off a feat of strength like he did against the Zombie Boss ever again. 

Yes, he'd normally respawn. But just as the dark forces of Zombie and Creeper boss had died forever, so would he. Why would someone turn dark and sacrifice their ability to respawn, you ask? Because it gives them, in turn, the power to permanently kill anyone they want. That is the dark cycle if this world, and the power that Israphel was offering to his dad, Reverend John. 

Which is why the sight of Old Peculiar coughing and generally showing other signs of being alive was such a beautiful thing. A great relief in this war of light and dark. 

The dwarf pulled him down to the cellar where he healed him up and stole some of Israphel's weaponry. There were many bows and lots of ammunition for them as well as a relatively safe room to stow in for a while. So, now feeling better and armed to the teeth, they continued the pursuit. 

"He's got a nice place," commented the dwarf as Xephos led them up to a hidden tunnel in the cave wall behind the castle. It was long and dark but at least this one was wide enough to walk side by side through. They went through twists and turns and up and down more stairs. They crossed bridges over pools of lava and water and even went through tunnels of bedrock, it was that deep down. 

And still they went on and on and on. The tunnel seemed to just get longer and more perilous as their torch supplies dwindled and the twists, turns and bridges got a lot more ambitious.   
On and on. Through the darkness. Towards the darkness, walking from the darkness. 

On a quest to save Daisy and stop Israphel's dark intents.   
"I hope we find her," said Old Peculiar, "I was going to propose to her."


	8. Hellgate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The real journey starts now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adapted from the series: Minecraft - episode 27 on the channel Yogscast Lewis and Simon.

Location: The Yogcave, Earth dimension  
Planet: Minecraftia  
Date: 17th December 2010  
Cast: The heroes

"Um, can you hear that?" the dwarf asked. He was leading the chase and running toward the light at the end of the tunnel, "It's the sound of a portal."   
"Oh my god," replied the spaceman. They emerged in The Hole of Doom. The tunnel had led all the way from the Terrorvale crypt to Israphel's Castle and back to where the Yogcave and its neighbouring portal sat in that winter wonderland.   
"Is that a hell gate?!" Old Peculiar burst out in front of the pair. He was shocked at what he saw and had apparently regained a lot of energy thanks to the fear this sight struck in him. "Who in Notch's name would be stupid enough to build one of those?!"   
Xephos and Honeydew looked at each other with regret. While the dwarf dug a safe staircase down to it the spaceman made sure to calm Old Peculiar down and agree with him that whoever had built that really was an idiot. 

It looked the same as when they left it. Actually, it looked worse. More moss grew across the stones and more fire had spread. It was corrupting the land around it in a terrifying way and showed no signs of stopping. 

Another unfortunate revelation, it seemed clear that that is where Israphel had taken Daisy. The rest of the land was barren fields of ice, sand and snow covered grass. The mountains had no place to hide unless the dark force had chosen to backtrack. 

No, it's clear they both went into the Nether. 

"Are we seriously gonna go through there?" spoke Honeydew in a shaky voice.   
"Yes, friend, let's go!" encouraged Xephos yet again.   
The old man stood behind the pair who were looking back at him for approval. He stared into the vortex and pondered what lay beyond. But he could only think of her. 

"We will save Daisy," the spaceman said in a heroic voice. The three of them walked together towards their destiny. 

"We will travel through the portal!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk if anyone reads this other than my boyfriend (hi) but im taking a break for a month or so!  
> One, college is beginning again.   
> Two, I need to plan some stuff regarding this story.   
> Three, I want to work on some of my other writing now :)
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	9. Survival Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The portal proves to be more troublesome than any of our trio first thought...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello to the very little people who read this!  
> A short one to come back with but I'm going to update every other day, or at least try to :)  
> Enjoy!
> 
> Adapted from the series: Survival Island episodes 1-11 on the channel Yogscast Lewis and Simon.

Location: Survival Island, Earth dimension  
Planet: Minecraftia  
Date: 12th January 2011  
Cast: The heroes

They were fools to think they could just follow him to his home turf and expect a fair fight. 

So, cast your mind back, dear reader. Back to the initial creation of this particular hellgate and how it appeared to be 'blocked.' How, when stepping into it, the heroes would remain in the Earth Dimension and be completely unable to pass through. Well the 'blocked' analogy appears, now, to be appropriate, as Israphel has the power to manipulate Nether Portals as he so wishes. Like then, the moment they stepped foot in this one, they were at his mercy. 

Now, where Old Peculiar ended up, we know not. But our two primary protagonists found that the portal had taken them not to Israphel's realm, no, but to a desert island. Smack bang in the middle of the planet's ocean with nothing around them but sea, sky and sand. They went from being right on his tail to well and truly stranded. 

And Israphel's whereabouts were unheard of for nearly a month as he went into hiding with his prize: Daisy. 

The dwarf was most jarred by this sudden event and interruption to the quest. He sat on the island's beaches and stared out into the sea as if trying to manifest a far off coastline or approaching vessel. He stared and stared and stared but to no avail. Nothing could be seen or found for miles. Eventually, his instincts took the reign from his usual fear and he stood up to work hard and help Xephos. 

Xephos had been doing that from the start, in all his rationality, but not very well. The dwarf brought up the heavy lifting and took over the manual labour while our spaceman lead and planned. Their teamwork really shone during their time on the island as over the course of their weeks there, they managed to stay sane and build shelter. They resumed the survival that brought them together after their first meeting and near the end found comfort in this similar situation of Dwarf and Spaceman survive the night. 

A cave house was built and a farm was constructed. They made wheat and bread and they mined through the daylight hours until it came time to rest. There was arguing and making up and bonding experiences throughout! And of course, they were never far from adventure. A notable sight they saw during their time here was a crpyt that belonged to 'The Curator,' whoever that might be. It ended up to be a trap in the form of a series of trials, not unlike the dark constructions near the Yogcave. This solidified their time here as something fond to look back on as their lives move once again towards adventure. 

What happened during their last few minutes on the island was definitely something they'd come to joke about in the future. 

As the pair emerged from another day of mining into their small cave hut during the middle of the night, the Dwarf pulled a pair of shovels out of his inventory to present an idea. A boat! Made of wood and propelled by shovels that would act as paddles. They'd been here long enough to grow the trees to have enough wood so it seemed like the best idea. Where they went was unknown to either of them. However, it wouldn't matter soon enough. 

As the dwarf spoke of a sea vessel, the spaceman pointed behind him to the door.  
"Oh my God, turn around. Honeydew!" He exclaimed as he ran past him and out onto the beach. A while back, the dwarf had placed torches in the sand that would illuminate to spell out the word 'help!.' Now, it simply spelt 'lp!' as what Xephos had seen was now obstructing the first two letters. 

"Heroes! I've finally found you!" boomed a voice from atop the airship. A large vessel with an inflated white balloon atop had come to land on the Survival Island, much to everyone's surprise, and save our pair from being stranded. A ramp shot out from the side of it with an overjoyed Old Peculiar running down it before the thing could even make touchdown. 

While Honeydew complimented his new clothes, a brown vest and beige shirt that made him look like the archaeologist adventurer type, Xephos found himself worrying as their friend seemed haggard with his wild hair and eye bags.  
"He does look tired," the dwarf commented, "very tired."  
The Oldman smiled as he brought provisions of pork and milk from his backpack to feed the heroes. They relished in eating the meat and having a drink of something other than water. This kept their mouths full while their friend, and his new friend, spoke. 

"We must be soon away," Old Peculiar insisted, "Lysander needs to restock the jetstream."  
"Do you have 25 pieces of coal?" asked the one who must be Lysander. He was a very refined looking man, something that made him stick out from the group of rather scruffy and messed up heroes. He had goggles perched on his head and a fine mustache. He wore the outfit of a pilot and was very clearly just that. The Zeppelin, as Xephos pointed out that it was, belonged to this man. 

Honeydew came out of their house after going to retrieve rations and the necessary coal for the trip. He saw everyone else defending themselves from the monsters that were spawning in the moonlight and took it upon himself to do nothing and board the Zeppelin. The others soon followed suit. 

While Old Peculiar pulled up the ramp he began to explain what happened after entering the portal. Lysander was prepping the air vehicle for take off.  
"When you disappeared through the portal, I could not follow for some reason. I then travelled to Mistral City after hearing rumours of a Dwarf and a Spaceman trapped on a desert island," he explained, "but only Skylord Lysander here would lend me his ship."  
"There's a chest on the Celaeno," interrupted said Skylord, "I suggest you put whatever essentials you have in there before we set sail!" 

The group got themselves together and saw that the ship be primed for a safe journey. All belongings were safely tucked away and the ballast was correctly adjusted. They wandered the deck while Lysander made some final checks.  
Heroes United at last. 

The Dwarf, The spaceman and Old Peculiar stood together in a comforting silence that I'm sure they all wish could last forever. It was Old Peculiar who found it in himself to return to the present.  
"I have learned of many ill-things in the time you have been gone," he muttered. Looking at each of his friends, however, he only saw smiles. And he too smiled. Xephos and Honeydew possessed that strange ability to weather any storm together and he was happy to be in their company again. They hadn't known each other all too well before they were split up, but he found himself lost without their unique company and positive attitudes. 

So, with a revitalised spirit, he came to stand before the two heroes and ask for their help in a more serious and less timid way.  
"There are dire tales all over Minecraftia, heroes. I need your help to save the world and rescue my love!" 

Honeydew replied with an enthusiastic salute and Xephos have a happy 'of course, friend.'

Everyone made a final management of their belongings and the storage before finally taking flight towards the horizon and a day of new adventure. 

"The portal must be destroyed," Proclaimed Old Peculiar, "set sail, for the Yogcave!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am Dave!


	10. The road to Mistral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They return home to the last thing they wanted to see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adapted from the series: Shadow of Israphel episodes 1 - 2 on the channel Yogscast Lewis and Simon.

Location: The Yogcave , Earth dimension  
Planet: Minecraftia  
Date: 27th January 2011  
Cast: The heroes, Skylord Lysander

The Ceraeno flew for days. They followed a series of maps and compass' and many other manners of navigational tools to get back to their winter wonderland called home. The supplies brought by Lysander and Old Peculiar were enough to last the whole trip and then some, but entertainment was far and few between. The dwarf found the time to sleep for hours each day while the spaceman paced back and forth. He thought and planned and wracked Old Pecliar's mind constantly for facts or details about Israphel, though the man let nothing more go than they already knew. Plans were formed but nothing concrete. They knew nothing, after all, and found themselves back to a boredom filled trip among the clouds. 

Clouds that were turning grey. No, they were grey. Getting thicker and thicker as they enveloped the zeppelin in a matter of seconds. It was plumes of smoke rising from somewhere below; a fire was raging so strong it created such a powerful obstruction that Lysander began to worry. The Skylord was staring intently ahead as he squinted and tilted his neck in any effort to see better. 

An effort that went in vain. 

His proud voice alarmed the crew with a scream cut off quickly by explosions. Not only had the vile smoke interfered with machinery, they had scraped or fully hit a mountain at some point. It was hard to tell, but the fact is they were falling. Fast. 

It was Xephos who woke up first. He scrambled around for his friend and lifted his soot covered body from the debris. It was a miracle how unharmed they all were as the worst visible thing was a limp on the spaceman and a few cuts on Lysander's arm seen through torn sleeves. 

And everything was on fire. 

The crash landing sight was quite fortunate, actually. Our two heroes were sat in a burning crater next to the hellgate, yes, the original one in the hole of doom, while they made sure one another was okay. Lysander was seen trying to salvage something, anything, from the wreckage of Ceraeno. Old Peculiar stood looking around at their surroundings. A small fire spread across the nearby trees. The pyramid was still standing nearby, although its entrance had been significantly widened by what appeared to be a piece of debris flying through the entrance. 

"Ah, you're awake!" the old man shouted once he noticed his friends were sat up in the crater, "hurry heroes! We must destroy the portal."   
They all came together around the portal to assess the situation. Amongst the rubble it stood exactly as it did over a month ago. Proud and strong. Undamaged.   
"What's all this sand?" Xephos pointed out, in reference to a large amount of it piling up around the bottom of the gate.   
"No… could it be?" Old Peculiar muttered to himself.   
"What? What is it?" the Skylord insisted. The old man's face grew pale with fear. He didn't answer and merely repeated himself; "we must destroy the portal now."   
"What about Daisy-"   
"There are other portals. We must find them!" he explained. "These are ill times… I fear the world is in peril."   
"Then destroy the portal quickly, heroes!" Lysander insisted with gustow, "lest it corrupt the land further." 

As the dwarf channelled all his might into tearing his pickaxe through the pieces of obsidian that made up the portal, the others discussed heading to Mistral City and gathering supplies from the Yogcave. Old Peculiar was also having some unfortunate heart problems that went away within a few minutes. But as he clutched at his chest, the worry in each companion grew immensely. 

The losses kept coming, however. 

"What! NO!" The dwarf screeched as he came up behind Xephos. The spaceman was speechless at the sight before them. For when they reached the end of the tunnel that led from the hole of doom, they found the Yogcave Ruins. And it was much more ruined than any Zeppelin crash. The crater ran deep. There was lava pouring from some walls and fire burning on others and certainly no trace anyone ever lived here.

The spaceman consoled his friend who, for the first time during this quest, had started to cry. Honeydew sobbed into his hands as he couldn't bear to look.   
"We've been on this journey for so long… and been to so many places," the dwarf cried, "and I just wanted to go home."   
"This was our home here," Xephos reaffirmed. 

It was Daisy for Old Peculiar and the Dwarf wanted adventure. For Xephos, it was this. He would avenge the Yogcave and never allow his friend to cry like this again.   
He would kill Israphel. 

"It was the smoke from this place that slogged the Ceraeno," Lysander said. Their burning house causing them to crash just made them feel worse.   
Despite the pitch black of night making the roads dangerous, the group just had to leave. For the sake of the pain it caused and the damage the smoke did to Old Peculiar's health. 

As they travelled they moved like a single unit. Calling out to each other where monsters came from and slicing outwards from the group with skill and strength. Xephos boasted his diamond sword still, while Honeydew and Lysander possessed iron blades. Old Peculiar had downgraded, at some point, to a wooden sword, but still managed to keep up with the pack as they travelled across the country.   
They eventually got to the path to Mistral city and found it cracked and broken. They climbed the rubble and saw the world from a higher vantage point as the road went further up, and eventually through, the mountain. They could see the side of the pyramid now and saw lava spilling down it. Whatever damaged the Yogcave and the road had done that too. This world had a million more worries than minor zeppelin crashes. 

Bad omens indeed. Especially as they had to rest a lot due to Old Peculiar's poor body.   
They took one of the rests as an opportunity to formally meet Skylord Lysander while Old Peculiar caught his wheezing breath. The moon hung high up in the night sky as Lysander explained that the Skylords are members of Mistral City's ruling council. He also expresses his worry at the fact that his title may be revoked due to his crashing of the Celaeno. 

After a nice back rub from the dwarf, Old Peculiar felt fit enough to go on again and the team ventured forth through the night. They travelled across the winding stone path across large grassy fields and groups of trees until dawn begins to rise and the Skylord announces his joy at the heroes getting to witness the spires of the city at dawn. 

They rested one more time, during which the dwarf saw it fit to start a snowball fight with Xephos. The old man braced himself for the last leg and Lysandre's knee bounced up and down with anticipation. Such an articulate man he was normally. Shows how much he loves his dear city of Mistral.

And it lived up to and beyond the expectations he set up. 

The lower half of the city was overshadowed, literally, by the magnificence of the floating spires. There were small islands, each large enough to hold a single tower or house, that floated above the city. They seemed to be held aloft by propellors that spun beneath them. Each island was connected by fine wooden catwalks that stood strongly over the lower portion of Mistral and sometimes branched off into a port. The ports held all manner of Zeppelins, but none as magnificent as the Celaeno that carried them home. In fact, one of the islands seemed to have a lighthouse atop it to prevent Ceraeno-like incidents from happening. 

The group all followed Lysandre's excitable lead as they ran into the city, chasing after his shouting voice.   
"Behold! The spires of Mistral!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im proud of myself for writing up to ten chapters and really appreciative of the teenie tiny amount of support I've gotten :)  
> Here's to me at least finishing this!


	11. I demand your finest bacon!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tour of the wonderful city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adapted from the series: Shadow of Israphel episodes 2-3 on the channel Yogscast Lewis and Simon.

Location: Mistral city, Earth dimension  
Planet: Minecraftia  
Date: Morning of the 28th January 2011  
Cast: The heroes, Skylord Lysander

They walked closer to the city and found that the path led through a large wooden gate. There was a tall perimeter around the city, a large wooden wall, that opened only here and protected the rest with towering fences and manned posts. Just outside was a guard hut that they strolled past to enter Mistral; a city that was apparently ready to defend itself from… something.   
"While you were gone," Lysander started as they entered the city, "Peculiar had come to us from Terrorvale with ill news. You know, my father served with him during The Sand War. I trust him."   
But while the Skylord spoke of their friend, Xephos and Honeydew were busy staring at Mistral in rapture. They'd walked up to a large fountain and craned their necks up to admire the floating haven above. 

The fountains were labelled as 'The Fountain of Strength' and 'The pool of memory.'

While the dwarf was being as nosey as possible, the spaceman went on to meet some residents. He came across a large stone church with a wooden roof and a giant picture of an apple above the door. Pushing back memories of Reverend John, Xephos walked up to the man who stood just inside who was humming a deep and bouncy tune to himself.   
"Hello father!" he said from the doorway. The man turned around to reveal eccentricity incarnate. The white jumpsuit was tied together with a black belt. The gold buckle sparkled wonderfully along with the bright yellow glasses, but still drew no attention like his exposed chest of magnificent hair.   
"Hello friend," the holy man replied in a deep yet soothing voice that carried all the charm of a flute. 

However, this meeting was cut short as the dwarf returned to his side with a limping Old Peculiar and the Skylord he was leaning against.   
"I feel weak, help me heroes, I can barely stand," came his croaky voice.   
"We must help him to his father's house!" Proclaimed Lysandre's contrastingly booming voice. 

The group hobbled through the streets, Honeydew helping Lysander to support Peculiar, as they made their way to his dad's house. They saw a wonderful painting in an alley of two adventurers in a zeppelin and walked past a building called Grandma Bacon's greasy spoon tea shop. 

"No!" the spaceman heard ahead of him. Peculiar's voice. Xephos stopped trailing behind to admire the city and ran up to the other three, only to find the burnt down ruins of another abode. Only two things stood, a tall painting of what looked like a dressed up Daisy Duke, and a sign that indicated this was indeed Bungalow Peculiar. 

Suddenly revitalised, Old Peculiar scrambled forward with a bucket of water and desperate cries. As he hurled liquid to put out the fires, the Skylord followed him in to stop him.   
"Stop. It's been burning for days. You can rest up at my house." 

They walked in silence for a few minutes until they rounded a corner and found a large house called Elysium.   
"Come in heroes," he pronounced as the Old man wandered off upstairs on his own to rest in bed. 

While they leave him to rest and grieve, Lysander decides to show them around a bit and takes them inside that nearby tea shop to meet Granny Bacon. 

"Hello, dears!" The woman had such a welcoming tone. The shrill voice was hidden by warm words and her kind appearance. Her grey hair fell nicely down to the shoulders of her darker beige shirt. She had a blue apron and lovely green necklace on. Lysander praised her for her hospitality, only for Honeydew's dwarven nature to come out.   
"Old woman, I demand your finest bacon," he bellowed as he slammed a mighty fist on the counter.   
The other two were shocked at his boldness but Granny Bacon seemed unphased as she turned to switch on the grill.   
"Certainly! I can't resist a beard like that."   
"Oh god," muttered Xephos at the sight of his friend being popular with women again. Lysander revelled in the companionship, however. It seemed they all forgot the outside world existed just while they were here. Safe in the tea shop with Granny Bacon. 

When the food was done, she brought it around the counter to him and presented the plate of fine rashers. Great food that came with whispers of compliments. The proud dwarf ate and the kind chef returned to the kitchen after their flirting of muscles and pretty hair.   
"Should we leave them alone now?" asked a smiling Lysander.   
"Yeah!" enthused the dwarf, "uh, Xephos, it's been a long day I think I'll turn in for the night."   
Xephos sighed, "okay, well we'll catch up with you later, pal." 

The spaceman wouldn't come to know what transpired that evening in the greasy spoon tea shop, although the distant grunting would give him an idea. He tried to drown the sound out as Lysander went on with a history lesson about central Mistral, the floating islands, that gave Mistral it's status as a great power on Minecraftia. 

"Call me later," the dwarf said, now out of breath, as he left the shop to catch up with his friends. They were just leaving a place called Snozzi's house of adult pleasure and entertainment. The spaceman steered him away from it with a simple 'no.' Further through the city they found a brilliant green tennis court and an awfully shady, but not inconspicuous, opium den. 

After a fun round of tennis and a joke about being a miner from the dwarf, in regard to the drug house, they walked past farms and mines and reached the blacksmith. There was a collective 'uh oh' from the dwarf and the spaceman as the next two things happened. They found a sign on the front that read 'Duke Smithy' while Lysander explained that their resident blacksmith was currently on holiday at Terrorvale. 

"That's not good news," stressed Xephos.   
"Is this Daisy's place?" Honeydew asked, to which the Skylord shook his head and informed them that it belonged to her dad. Perhaps he was visiting his daughter? Where is he now? 

The tour moved on from the uncomfortable atmosphere as they took a peak at the help wanted flyers and sales posters on the local message board. They went past the lumber yard and came up behind The Church of the Holy Apple. There was a large stained glass window that beautifully depicted a bright red apple. However, the art was held in the walls right next to the fenced off cemetery. Another man was here, clearly a Skylord, grieving at a tombstone after placing flowers.

They walked through to see the morbid graves that read names like Dave! Yognaught and unfortunate fates like 'drowned in the pool of life.'

When they reached the mourning Skylord they saw that the person he was honouring was none other than Reverend John. The man was declared missing and presumed dead. 

And they wanted nothing to do with it, so they moved on. Their past something not so nice. The tour seemed to end in this cemetery so they continued to look around as, for such a dark place, it had such wonderful waterfalls that trickled into pools from the islands above. A beautiful sight of death. 

Their past was undeniable though. The heroes had become wrapped up in a fate far bigger than any of them the moment they opened that hellgate and tangled with Israphel. It would always creep up to blacken their bright moments, no matter how much they ran from it. The last grave they set eyes on belonged to him, after all. It sat alone in the corner and was simply captioned 'we do not speak of him.' 

Israphel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I constantly spell Lysander's name differently? Perhaps.   
> Did I make any effort to fix it while editing? Perhaps not.


	12. Proper quest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new mission for our heroes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adapted from the series: Shadow of Israphel episodes 3-7 on the channel Yogscast Lewis and Simon.

Location: Mistral city, Earth dimension  
Planet: Minecraftia  
Date: Morning of the 29th January 2011  
Cast: The heroes, Skylord Lysander

"What are you doing?" Lysander shouted, his shock at Xephos resounding throughout the graveyard. The spaceman, out of what must have been pure anger, found himself clawing up the stones of the grave and digging down to see what was underneath. 

Everyone fell silent when they found an empty hole. No coffin or casket. No body or bones. Just, nothing.   
"Sorry, I don't know what came over me," apologised the spaceman, "I just had to check."   
"I can't believe you did that," the dwarf commented, although his seriousness seemed to be hiding back a laugh. 

As Xephos was recovering the grave, the dwarf was beginning to look elsewhere. His eyes drifted upwards to a specific tower in Central Mistral. It was tall and had wooden platforms sticking out and leading to various doors around the side as if there weren't enough room inside for corridors. Walking along them was a man in blue clothing. The strange part was that this particular island seemed to be disconnected from the rest. No catwalk led to it and no port jutted out. Just a single solitary waterfall dripping down one edge. 

Of course, the tour would have to take them up at some point, so Lysander took the initiative and satisfied Honeydew's curiosity by leading them over to the one way up. 

They walked past a house labeled the Astley residence, where an apparently reformed creeper lived. They crossed the street and went down the alley with the tea shop again. At this point Lysander muttered to himself something about Fumblemore's spells before a shouting voice was heard, followed by a large explosion. 

"Anyway!" The Skylord distracted. They'd all gone past his house and just a bit further till they reached a huge stone tower that they dubbed the Sky Tower. "Behold," he proclaimed.   
"However, the tour ends here, as access to the Sky Tower is restricted to Skylords only. Listen, though. Old Peculiar is sick and has been getting weaker. He was once a powerful knight, but seems old before his time. I fear that his time in Terrorvale has poisoned him somehow. We need his strength if we are to defeat… Israphel. "  
"We will!" Xephos Proclaimed as the Dwarf cowered at the thought of even saying that man's name.  
"Now, you've heard the explosions. They come from the wizard tower, he is wise and will know what to do. I will give you temporary Skylord licenses to grant you access to the upper levels. There, you must build a bridge across to the wizard tower, seeing as we no longer have the Celaeno." While he was talking, he handed out the license to each hero on a piece of paper and led them up the winding tower staircase. 

Up on the catwalks, they went past a port with a brilliant airship that had two balloons and saw the magnificent lighthouse up close. Once they reached an edge near the wizard tower, Honeydew pulled out some stone blocks and built over to Fumblemore's tower; Xephos lighting it up with torches as they went along. 

Inside was the grandest of libraries: books lined each wall, and in the middle was a fine wooden desk. They followed Lysander across the precarious platforms that stretch around the building and go into his office. After finding the office empty, they take themselves to the only other room in the tower… the bedroom.   
"Give me a minute!" the wizard shouted from an en suite.   
"Do you need any paper?" offered the spaceman. The dwarf peered around the room and looked at all the books that seemed to be piled up here too. Lysander sat in a chair outside the toilet, waiting as if he'd done it a few times before.   
"Yes, actually, pass me one of those books," he called out, "pick one by Fabulo the Great, that's all they're good for!"   
Lysander began to whistle as they waited. 

"Who are you?" came from behind the pair of heroes as they fiddled with the jukebox in the corner. Finally, Fumblemore was done.  
The two introduced themselves while Lysander sat as uninterested as before.   
"Ah. Well, what can I do for you, Zapdos!"  
"Our friend is sick! We must save him!" Xephos explained. The dwarf appeared to be the only one who cared about both the incorrect name as well as the long wand Fumblemore was just casually waving about. "Old Peculiar is suffering from Israphel's taint."   
'I'm rather partial to Guinness myself," is the only response they got from him.   
"I don't think any of that got through to him," the dwarf pointed out, "this is gonna be hard work."   
"You just need to speak up," said Lysander, as he finally got out of the chair.   
"OUR FRIEND IS SICK WITH TAINT!" Xephos immediately shouted, much to everyone else's displeasure.   
"Taint eh?" Fumblemore began, as If that was a normal volume to speak at, "I can rustle up a potion that can cure all ills."   
"We don't have to rob him then, yay," the dwarf celebrated to himself.   
"We need a bucket of water from the pool of life, some dirt, a few feathers, probably, that might help, and maybe some sulphur. Five bits. And, uhhhhh, two golden apples!"   
Lysander was flabbergasted but all the heroes knew they had to do it. For Old Peculiar. 

And they started their quest by getting lost. Across the maze of catwalks in Central Mistral, the heroes shouted directions at each other until eventually they found themselves at the bottom of the Sky Tower once more. As they scoured the town for their required treasures, the dwarf expressed his doubt at Fumblemore's ability while Xephos reminded him that they had no other option. 

They already had some materials, but found the rarer ones more difficult to acquire. 

After suggesting he start a church of song and his express love of music, Father Braeburn, of the church of the Holy apple, said he would be willing to part with his golden apple in exchange for a record. And fortunately, that other Skylord in town, who is said to be called Skylord Jasper, is known to be an avid music lover. Apparently, though, he was not on friendly terms with Lysander as our friend the Skylord immediately suggested a robbery. 

And with Old Peculiar in such a desperate state, the heroes agreed. They snuck into his bottom floor to find nothing. They stepped slowly up the stairs to see him in a jacuzzi, relaxing and singing to some music. That's when Lysander suggested they take the heist to the skies where they can leap from the upper catwalk down to the balcony of Jasper's House. 

On their way there, Honeydew took another flirtatious visit to Granny Bacon while Xephos gathered sulphur from around town. Mostly in bins outside people's houses. After reuniting with his friend, Xephos found the dwarf bartering with his new beloved for the one golden apple she had. He managed to get the price down from eight diamonds to seven, but still saw that it was too expensive for them, so they went on to continue the record heist. 

While the dwarf and the Skylord were still making their way up, Xephos found himself wandering about Central Mistral. He walked across a catwalk that seemed to be blocked off by a waterfall that fell down from a nearby island. Walking through the falling water, he managed to apparently find a secret tunnel to the interior of that particular island. 

Creepers must have been lurking in the dark, however, as when he entered he heard an explosion and quickly saw himself falling down to a pool of water in the cemetery below. 

Two signs inside that secret room read: 'Hallowed are we who inhabit the sacred city. We are the oath keepers sworn to duty.'   
It appears, though, that Xephos failed to read them before he fell. 

The spaceman made a quick way back up to the Central area, after Father Braeburn helped him up with preaches of Notch' s holy respawn blessing. The heist would begin now that they found themselves positioned above the balcony of Skylord Jasper's house. 

They all placed a bucket of water over the edge of the island to create safe pools on the balcony that they could drop into. Unfortunately, the dwarfs smashing of windows spurred a lot of shouting from Jasper on the lower levels. In his chests, which they began to quickly ransack, they found drugs and diamonds. 

Lysander went downstairs to confront the other Skylord and distract him while Xephos and Honeydew searched the bedroom and the airship docked outside.   
"I WILL KILL YOU LYSANDER!" the other Skylord shouted as Xephos finally found the record underneath Jasper's bed.

As soon as it was stolen, the pair made a break for the window where they leapt out into a nearby river. This, however, caused most of their possessions to fall out of their inventory and they soon found Lysander in repossession of his record, as quick as he lost it.

But all hope was not lost. They saw a red-with-rage Jasper aggressively chasing Lysander around town as he had apparently taken one of his lovely, soft, pink towels. This gave the pair enough time to sneak right back in and take the record again, all with enough time to apparently leave a calling card in the form of a note that said 'thanks for the record, fuck face.' 

And just as the homeowner returned, the pair found themselves, securely this time, leaping out into the nearby river unseen. So, while Xephos traded the record for the father's golden apple, the dwarf went to trade seven stolen diamonds for another golden apple. 

"Now we can save Old Peculiar!" Proclaimed Skylord Lysander.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really like this chapter. I think I wrote it poorly but I didn't seem to enjoy writing this part as much as the rest, apparently. Oh well, here's to hoping my energy returns :)  
> I've been revising a lot for history so my brains a bit fried.


	13. Diggy diggy hole!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where will Peculiar's past take them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adapted from the series: Shadow of Israphel episodes 7-8 on the channel Yogscast Lewis and Simon.

Location: Mistral city, Earth dimension  
Planet: Minecraftia  
Date: Night of the 29th January 2011  
Cast: The heroes, Skylord Lysander

As they climbed up the tower's strange, circling walkways, they could hear sudden, loud shouts ahead of them. "Shazam!" and "shit!" and all manners of wizard-y words and curses were thrown into the night as explosions went off to indicate spells gone wrong. 

When they finally came up to the office on the top floor, they found the wizard slumped over a cracked potion flannel with a strange, oozing, brown liquid staining the wooden floor below him. They just moved on as if this was normal, tired from the resource gathering, and went to hand him the potion ingredients. After being reminded of who they actually were, Fumblemore got straight to work. He dashed from worktop to worktop with the water bucket as he spread things about and chopped them up. It was like art watching how he would move from one place to the other, adding each ingredient in in specific ways. It was like a dance. 

"It looks like… muddy water with two golden apples and some feathers in it," Lysander pointed out. The potion was handed back to them after about a minute and a half of the wizard's tinkering, only for it to look just as the Skylord described.   
"Well," a hesitant Xephos began, "we'll get this to Old Peculiar right away."  
"Come, we must hurry… as little faith I have in this as I do," Lysander said while leaving the tower with a giggling dwarf and concerned astronaut in tow.   
"I hope your daughter gets better," the wizard shouted out to them.   
Dammit Fumblemore. 

Once back at Elysium, they all rushed up stairs, much to the Skylord's grumbling about leaving the door open, to find the old man staring out the window. They quickly brought the cure-all to his hands and commanded him to drink it.   
"It looks… horrible," came his croaking voice.   
"But it tastes like strawberries and single malt whiskey!" lied Honeydew

The old man had already begun to drink it, though, his faith in the heroes unshakable. In fact, as soon as he brought the bucket down with a mighty 'ah,' the heroes saw a completely different man before them. He was younger and wiser. His eyes showed experience, not pain, and the once wrinkled skin was now smoother and glowing, although creases of stress and age were still visible.   
"My mind is clear now," he announced, "I need to follow the footsteps of my father!"   
The group was confused and just waited for him to continue.   
"He went missing one day, from his post outside the city. I've tried to find out what happened to him, but to no avail. I must try again!"   
"Wow," said Xephos as the man went on to proclaim how he felt 20 years younger, "I'm excited now!" 

As soon as he was ready, the group set off once more. They came to leave Mistral City in search of his father's post. They went out through the front gate and turned left into the open world. They came across a burning crater dubbed 'MINEFIELD' and made caution to watch their step as some had clearly already been set off by wildlife. 

They came to turn left again and soon saw that they were hugging the city walls as they made their way around to the back. After passing the river that Xephos and Honeydew had used to escape Jasper's House, they eventually reached an old abandoned tower. It appeared to be very similar to the Sky Tower, except this one had mounds of stone and dirt surrounding and almost burying it as well as missing chunks in the walls. 

"Ye Olde Watche Tower," the dwarf read aloud from a sign that stood over what must have been a doorway. "Well, this place is a bit of a state, isn't it."   
"I'll stand guard down here while you all search," offered the Skylord.   
Old Peculiar nodded and promptly led the trio up the stairs to see what the tower held within. 

They had to move stones out the way and push through large amounts of mud until eventually they made their way up what they could find of the staircases and on to the top. 

At which point Old Peculiar decided to tell them about the buried basement. 

They huffed their way back down after finding nothing of value on the tower's roof and began to dig. They had all pulled out shovels and immediately got to work, hoping they'd find out the past and its link to Israphel. 

They heaved up piles and piles of dirt and mud in a mindless manner, the dwarf taking the lead with much compliments from Skylord Lysander.   
"Honeydew," the spaceman shouted to his friend when their tunnels got closer. "I feel like we need a song to sing whilst digging. Do you have any ideas."  
"Possibly…" he replied. You ask a dwarf to sing a song to mine to and their choruses of celebration alone could count for a Carol. The songs from the kingdoms that exist deep below the Earth and into the mountains tell deep tales with such little words. An outsider could never understand how rich and meaningful the lyrics are… 

"I'M A DWARF AND I'M DIGGING A HOLE! DIGGY DIGGY HOLE! DIGGY DIGGY HOLE!" 

Honeydew's voice resounded across the valley as he sung of dwarven might and treasures down below the Earth. It went on until finally, mangled amongst the roots of a nearby oak tree, a chest was found by Xephos. Inside was a single piece of paper. A note from Old Peculiar's father. 

"He talks of preparing an expedition underground. He was going to close a hellgate. He mentions the mineshaft in town. We must follow!" Old Peculiar proclaims. "Follow me! I'll lead the way."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter but full of the best references uwu  
> Perhaps ill try for something longer tomorrow... I do think the story begins to pick up from here a bit more, something that will definitely compel me to write more as I enjoy that more, but hey its all a blast!
> 
> Just talking to myself at this point...


	14. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn more about the past and the present...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adapted from the series: Shadow of Israphel episodes 9-10 on the channel Yogscast Lewis and Simon.

Location: Mistral city, Earth dimension  
Planet: Minecraftia  
Date: Morning of the 30th January 2011  
Cast: The heroes

"If it's alright with you guys, I'm going to give this one a miss… I'm a master of the sky, the bowels of the Earth are scary for me." As the group returned to the city in Old Peculiar footsteps, the Skylord chose to finally peel away from the heroes and have a chance to rest. He was a pilot, after all, and not a warrior.

Just as he went off, they heard the nearby celebrations of one Father Braeburn as he invited the heroes to revel in the Church of the Holy Record's renovations. Of course, the difference was that a giant record now stood on the front above the door where a giant apple once did. 

"I'm very proud, thank you heroes," the magnificent man said as he hummed himself away to add some signs inside that said things like 'may Notch smite he who scratches the holy record.' 

The heroes waved him goodbye and headed through town, past the tennis court and towards a closed mineshaft with danger signs plastered on the wooden dirt that blocked the entrance. On the way there they had seen the two Skylords stood outside the opium den. Apparently, Lysander had gone to patch things up with Jasper, bless him. 

"We're going into a dangerous mineshaft… with a hellgate in… that's clearly signposted not to enter," the dwarf pointed out.   
"Well what choice do we have. We must venture down," replied the spaceman.   
"I have to know my father's fate," Old Peculiar added. 

And so, they all took an axe to the wooden blockade and opened up the massive hole below. It was more akin to a quarry than a mine. The shaft was a giant hole that stretched wide and deep with a wooden stair case spiralling around the side. The dark in there spawned monsters, and the heroes had to parry off sudden attacks from giant spiders and shots from skeletal archers. The old man gave congratulations to the Dwarf who shot impressively with bow and arrow while the spaceman led the party and cleared the way. 

But it was the old man himself who was most impressive. With his rejuvenated youth, Old Peculiar could hack and slash with even more skill than when the heroes first met him. Xephos and Honeydew felt more scared for whatever stood in his way than whatever lay in the abandoned mine's depths.

They travelled even deeper as more tunnels opened up and eventually they found themselves at bedrock level. Old Peculiar would brick off pools of lava and the dwarf would pick off any particularly shiny ores in the tunnel's walls. Xephos read out signs and chopped down barricades and eventually they came to a room. 

A room full of sand. 

In the centre stood what was clearly the broken frame of a hellgate. A Nether Portal. Around which were left over bits of TNT and, of course, creeping bits of stone cold sand. And that hell-ish, unmoving, ever-burning fire danced in place around the room. 

On one wall, half-buried under mounds of gravel, was a series old signs left clearly by Old Peculiar's dad. The dwarf read them aloud while Xephos unearthed the rest. 

"Son, if you are reading this then I am dead. I have walked through the portal to seal it shut. Know that I died to protect this land from a terrible evil. In the Nether is a spirit that would destroy the world. It must NOT be allowed into Minecraftia at any cost. If it somehow gets loose once again, you must vanquish it. My armour and blade are here. It falls to you, and those that stand with you, to save the world. - K Peculiar. Fight well my son, and know that I love you."

Old Peculiar lifted the knights helmet from the chest. A headpiece for a hero. He held the sword high above his head and looked younger than ever. It was a mighty blade, not made from materials of Minecraftia. He even bore a new grey tunic as he requested the heroes call him by a new name. 

Knight Peculiar. 

"My father's diary is filled with grave information!" the Knight announced. "As I feared, the evil of the past has returned."   
"Oh dear," the dwarf commented, "it was never gonna be good news though, was it? It was never going to be like a journal of happy thoughts."   
"No," Xephos agreed, "today I patted a unicorn," he mocked, bringing the group into giggles. And although Knight Peculiar revelled in companionship, he insisted they hurried off to a place called Verigan's Hold. 

They dashed back through the tunnels. Strangely, their torches had completely disappeared, but they thought not much of it as they swatted spiders away on their hasty trip to the surface. 

But the surface had become no safer. 

"In Notch's name!" the Knight shouted, reaching the surface first and looking around at Mistral, "the town has been attacked." That seemed like quite the understatement as the heroes rose to find the city in flames. Parts of Central Mistral were missing and fire swallowed whole buildings. It was like the ruins of Bungalow Peculiar. There were catwalks and even some floating islands that had fallen down. 

They went on to search for someone, anyone, and found a note left outside the church. "Anyone! Help!" the dwarf read aloud again, "The Holy record is trapped in the church! I have fled to Icaria! Please bring it to me! - F. Braeburn. P. S. You will be well rewarded!" While he was reading, the spaceman took it upon himself to chop down the wooden parts of the church and make his way inside to claim the Holy record from the fires. He handed it to the dwarf for safeguarding, though, due to the fact that Honeydew tended to not die as much as Xephos did, or nearly did. 

After that issue was resolved, Knight Peculiar returned from an apparent scouting of the city where he found that most townsfolk had evacuated, although he worried about Lysander.   
"Follow me, heroes!" He commanded once again. They walked through the burning rubble of the city to find a practically intact blacksmith's shop. "Old Mr Duke used to have a hidden store, if I remember correctly," he explained while taking a pick axe to the floor. 

They found a ladder and made their way down to a store room with all manner of smithed weapons and armour as well as furnaces and anvils. They decided to loot a set of stellar armour and swords from a chest labelled 'Jasper's order.' The armour was made of iron and the swords made of diamond. Further in was a store room full of iron and gold which the spaceman looted without hesitation. He responded to Honeydew's accusations of callousness with 'he's probably dead any way,' and the heroes regrouped back up on the surface. 

As they searched for anyone to rescue, they saw a fallen guard tower, the shells of buildings and some burnt food in what was once Granny Bacon's tea shop. They went and scoured the ruins of Elysium while the dwarf mocked Lysander's reluctance to go underground with them. 

He was interrupted, however, by the concerned shouting of Xephos. "Uh, what is this down here, Honeydew. There's a hole in the ground under his rug here."   
"Oh shit, son. This is freaky." 

They found a small room made of a strange fleshy red stone. There was lava pouring from the walls and the most ominous of feelings. It was like a whole other world down here in the basement of Skylord Lysander. And down here, he was apparently a whole other person. The heroes found a chest in here. A single chest with a sign that labelled it. 

The sign read: 'Dark Master, I worship your unholy power. -Lysander'   
Inside the chest was the materials to build a new hellgate.  
And the tools he used to single handedly burn Mistral City to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUHHHHHH  
> he was a Cultist of Israphel all along 😔


	15. The crumbling ruin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They go deeper into the dark secrets of Mistral City...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adapted from the series: Shadow of Israphel episodes 10-11 on the channel Yogscast Lewis and Simon.

Location: Ruins of Mistral city, Earth dimension  
Planet: Minecraftia  
Date: 30th January 2011  
Cast: The heroes

They could not grieve for long. 

The revelation of Skylord Lysander's true identity was heart breaking, that is undeniable, but he had apparently done more than just burn down the city. They had to move on and find time to process this later, for the cries of Granny Bacon could be heard in the distance.  
The dwarf charged into action immediately; "I'm coming, my love, I shall rescue you!"  
Knight Peculiar led the way again as he explained that her voice had come from the old castle, whatever that was. 

The heroes trekked a fair ways through the city and came across a watch tower that had fallen down on its side.  
"Honeydew, use your dwarven might to break through the walls!" the Knight commanded as the dwarf broke through the stone and bricks. They came to a fenced off, wooden walkway that extended past the city walls and led directly to a small castle with iron doors that had small windows. Small windows that let fragments of the bright light within escape. 

"Time is of the essence, heroes!" Peculiar said to the spaceman who'd found himself staring off at a large ship in the distance at a port that connected to Mistral via a large bridge. 

Xephos and Honeydew each took a pickaxe out and began to hack away at the iron doors while the knight shed some light on the Skylord situation: "my father's diary tells of a nightmare cult: the cult of Israphel!"  
"Well that's just fantastic news," the dwarf groaned sarcastically as he made the last blow to knock the door down.  
"Yes. And they were based in this abandoned castle!"  
"Oh and it just gets better…"  
Knight Peculiar began to ignore him, "my father destroyed a portal here too, but they must have rebuilt it!"  
"Oh right, there's a hell portal too, that's great, anything else?"  
"Go!" The knight just shouted impatiently, "save granny and destroy the portal!" 

But he didn't join them. He shouted phrases along the lines of 'hurry' and 'there' s no time to lose' as he jogged off to another road just beyond the castle. It led into a large statue of a skull, the mouth to be precise, and went through the side of the mountain it rested on. He stopped for just a moment to turn and smile and say "meet me at Verigan's hold… good luck heroes."

Honeydew felt disheartened but the spaceman led him along with his stronger sense of responsibility. They knew that the knight had to do what he had to do… and so did they. 

They went in and found that behind the iron doors was another set of iron doors. Purely out of anger, maybe frustration - some form of negatively expressing the feelings he's holding in right now - Honeydew took out a block of TNT and lit it without hesitation. As reckless as it was, it did the job and only spilt a few of the castle's pools of lava. 

'Abandon hope, all ye who entere here' read a sign that stood atop the stairs of the entrance. The heroes walked up, past flowing lava, to reach it and stare down into a deep descent of darkness. They both went down. It wound and twisted and had only the faint illuminations of torches at distant intervals down. Eventually, they came to a spider dungeon, but dealt swiftly with the spawner and mobs that came from it. Most likely thanks to the tools they had raided from the Duke smithy. 

They fought through some creepers and some skeletons and eventually made their way to a prison type of room. Iron doors lined the walls, and it was Honeydew's turn to spur on his friend as he shouted encouraging words. None fought as valiantly as a dwarf. While he slew countless monsters, Xephos had lit up the dim room and taken out the spawners.

The room had stone pillars holding up the dug out cave and a large set of stairs to the outside world on one side. 

They found Granny Bacon rather easily as she was pressed right up to one of the door's windows… and making groaning noises.  
"Xephos, I'm freaking out," the dwarf whispered, his voice shaky.  
But the spaceman pulled the lever to open the door without hesitation as he pronounced, "c'mon, it's Granny Bacon!" 

But it became very clear that something was wrong with her. She seemed tainted. She growled and grumbled as she hobbled over to the heroes; her eyes dead and milky white. They attempted to put up barricades but she smashed through them without hesitation. Fortunately, she was slow. Though, in their time they could not think of a plan, and eventually the dwarf came out with "forgive me for doing this," as he punched the woman around the face. 

However, he'd come to quickly regret it. As if being held together by glue and pure luck, the Skin on Granny Bacon's head unraveled as it was stripped from her face. Underneath was a horrifying mixture of rotting flesh and skull that created the most traumatising sight our heroes had ever seen. She continued her hobbling and smashing and groaning as the rest of her body peeled away to reveal what could only be described as a zombie below. 

"NO!" the dwarf practically screamed.  
"Kill her, kill her!" the spaceman tried to say over the dwarf's crying.  
"I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY I'M SORRY!" Honeydew repeated again and again. 

The two heroes worked together to strike her down in what was both the easiest and hardest battle of their journey.  
"We murdered her," is all the dwarf could say, "in cold blood."  
"I dunno, man," Xephos had come to comfort him and steer him out of here, "she was a zombie, so, we did have to kill her. But she was your lover… I'm sorry, friend."  
"That was horrifying… but life goes on," he muttered as he took himself out of Xephos' steering hands and led them out of the back exit of the castle. 

But they didn't quite make it. 

They walked through more of Israphel's twisted tunnels and stair cases. They found deep, deep mineshafts with warming signs and barricaded entrances and eventually came to a door.  
They must have been near the end, but found themselves in familiar company. Stood behind the door was none other than Reverend John. The father of Israphel who ran the church back in Terrorvale. 

But he was clearly different. They had clearly killed him, and the rules said that those who join the dark side - those who wish for the power to permanently kill others - can be permanently killed themselves. He should not be here. 

But he was, so very clearly, there. With that same holy, golden sword in hand. His neck, however, was gouged open. You could see bone in there and lots of blood that stained his suit. He wasn't quite a zombie… but not quite alive either. 

And the heroes' reactions? To walk in the opposite direction and shut the door behind them of course. They looked at each other with fearful ums and ahs as their minds blanked on what to do or say.  
"Hello…?" is all Xephos could muster.  
"The master promises eternity!" he said from the other room. He stalked over and followed them through the door then screeched, "EMBRACE THE DARK!" 

"We're killing everyone, Xephos," Honeydew muttered, raising his sword in the air and preparing for combat again. The reverend saw he was out matched, however, and fled out the exit. Through one last tunnel they went as they reached the outside world. They had come out on a beach, apparently, as there was sand to slow the reverend down just long enough for the dwarf to strike him down swiftly. But this was no beach. Nor the outside world. Just in a room with a hellgate, one that had been open for so long it had flooded the room with taint in the form of sand. 

"Watch my back while I break it," Honeydew asked, "you know, in case anyone else we've previously met has turned undead and wishes to kill us."  
On the opposite side of the room was the destroyed portal that Knight Peculiar's father had destroyed many a years ago. After successfully breaking this one too, the spaceman dug through the sand and then the dirt and pulled himself and his friend back up to surface.

With blood on their swords, they stood once again in the bright burning ruins of Mistral city.  
They took a moment, just a moment, together. They needed it so desperately to calm down. They saw Jasper's house, a man who seemed angelic, now, stood next to Lysander. They saw Granny's shop and thought only of her rotting corpse at the end of their blades. Father Braeburns church was in ruins and Fumblemore's tower had completely vanished. The Duke Smithy brought terrifying thoughts of Daisy's fate now that they had seen Granny's, Lysander's and the Reverend's. 

But instead of letting it plague them, they let it drive them. They had to meet Knight Peculiar again, they had to meet Father Braeburn again and they had to see if Jasper and Fumblemore were still alive. 

They had to save Daisy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew big plot! Next chapter will be short, like chapter nine, as I want to take a break for a while again. The plot piqued again like before my last break and we know a new story arc is coming up, if you will, so I'm going to go back to planning for it and also to focus on some other writing again. Thank you for reading, and look out for my next chapter on Tuesday!
> 
> And woah, 2 bookmarks is astounding thank you for the people who are keeping up! The small amount of kudos, comments and hits make me feel so happy :)


	16. Beyond Skull pass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next leg of our heroes' journey begin...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adapted from the series: Shadow of Israphel episode 12 on the channel Yogscast Lewis and Simon.

Location: Ruins of Mistral city, Earth dimension  
Planet: Minecraftia  
Date: Night of the 30th January 2011  
Cast: The heroes

They walked through the ruins of Mistral one last time as they came out the back of the city and through a burning hole in one wall. They appeared at the mountain side where that skull stood out and made their way to the bottom of the steps leading up to its open jaw.   
"And there's the skull," the dwarf pointed out.   
"And there's Israphel," the spaceman said in a concerningly calm way.   
"Woah woah woah woah woah," Honeydew sputtered as he began to lead the charge up the stairs, "we must chase!" he shouted, the spaceman in tow. 

As they went up, they passed a sign that read 'SKULL PASS. Enter at your own risk.' Entering the mouth, though, they found a different sign.   
"You must be at least this tall to ride," Honeydew read aloud, "for your safety, keep your arms and legs inside the ride!"   
As he read, Xephos carried on the chase up a series of wooden stairs while ignoring signs that said things such as 'this way to fun!' 

"Ah!" the spaceman shouted in fear, "there's a gorilla here!"   
"Is he wearing a gorilla suit?" the dwarf asked walking up behind him.   
At the top of the stairs was what's very clearly a man in a gorilla suit. He was waiting around a corner to definitely not scare anyone coming up.   
The man in the suit aggressively made 'ooo! ooo!' noises while beating his chest before leading them round a final corner to a large water slide labelled 'weeeeee!' 

Neither knew what was actually going on but they were used to being in that confused state. 

They went down the water slide after the monkey man. And they came out to a world of colour. There were tents and flags all flailing in the wind with a whole manner of people walking around and having a blast at various games and stands. The slide itself had come out of another skull's mouth on the other side of the mountain. 

The steep fall at the end startled them, but they emerged from the pool and into an overwhelming new world that neither had expected. 

The monkey then bowed and removed the fake head, "did you enjoy your FREE ride on out new premium attraction: The Skull?" He had on, somehow, a bowler hat on underneath the fake head. His face seemed average but his voice was spoke from a silver tongue. He sounded charming, yet mischievous as each word flowed through the air on his playful tones. 

Israphel was nowhere in sight. 

"Oh, and I'm Mr Banjo," he explained, followed by a shrill laugh, "welcome to Carnival Del Banjo!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said last chapter, break time for a while again :)


End file.
